৩৩ comments

1. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৩:০৫ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

   হ্যারড নিষ্ঠুরতার জন্য কুখ্যাত ইহুদি রাজা যেমন ছিলেন তেমনি ছিলেন আজকের ইসরাইলের প্রত্নতাত্ত্বিক বিভিন্ন নিদর্শনের উৎস পুরুষ। তাকে নিয়ে উচ্চাকাঙ্ক্ষী এক প্রদর্শনীর আয়োজন করেছে ইসরাইল মিউজিয়াম। অবশ্য এই প্রদর্শনীতে রাজা হ্যারডের সাথে সম্পর্কিত প্যালেস্তাইনের পশ্চিম উপত্যকার কিছু শিল্পবস্তুও প্যালেস্তাইন অথরিটির অনুমতি না নিয়ে প্রদর্শিত হয়েছে, যা তীব্র বিতর্ক ও প্রতিক্রিয়ার উদ্ভব ঘটিয়েছে।

   King Herod in spotlight at new Jerusalem exhibition
   
   An ambitious new exhibition at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum sheds new light on the life and death of Herod the Great, the ancient king whose empire sought to straddle imperial Rome and a flourishing Jewish culture.

   The Roman-appointed king, who ruled Judaea from 37 to 4BC, is known as much for his brutal tyranny as for his magnificent building projects, with the new exhibition focusing on his stunning archaeological legacy.

   Known as the biblical king who ordered the slaughter of infants in Bethlehem on hearing of the birth of Jesus, Herod also killed three of his own sons and one of his wives, as well as many political foes.

   He was, in the words of first century historian Flavius Josephus, “equally cruel to everyone, a slave to his temper who distorted justice.”

   But this ego, combined with rare organisational and political talents, was what pushed him to demonstrate his grandeur to both his Jewish subjects in Jerusalem and fellow rulers across the Roman empire, by building monumental palaces and renovating the Jewish Second Temple.

   The exhibition is described by Israel Museum’s director James Snyder as the museum’s “most ambitious” archaeological undertaking and the first ever to focus on Herod. It takes visitors on a journey that starts at the winter palace in Jericho and ends at Herodium, a hollowed-out hill near Bethlehem where he built a palace and fortress.

   The meticulous reconstruction, which includes some 30 tonnes of stone artefacts, showcases the height of Roman fashion and craft work — from a stone bath and patterned floors to a set of jugs for holding the finest delicacies imported from Europe.

   Among the 250 artefacts on display is a decorated cornice from Herod’s most grandiose undertaking: the expansion of the Second Temple, located on what is today known as the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

   And three-dimensional video exhibits use aerial photography to show how Herod’s massive structures would have appeared today.

   In the comfort of Herodium, away from the religious centre of Jerusalem, Herod — who was born into a family from local tribes who had converted to Judaism — could feel free to enjoy exquisite wall paintings and frescos at his palace. These were replete with images of animals and people that would have been condemned as idolatrous under Second Temple-era Judaism.

   Behind a row of giant columns stands the centrepiece of the exhibition: a reconstruction of the king’s burial chamber at Herodium.

   Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer spent four decades searching for Herod’s burial site on the mount, announcing he found the first evidence of its location in 2007.

   But three years later, he fell to his death during an initial tour of the site. The museum has dedicated the exhibition — entitled “Herod the Great — The King’s Final Journey” — to Netzer’s memory.

   Herod’s greatness came from him retaining the delicate balance between the western and eastern cultures he represented, Snyder said.

   “At the same time that Herod managed to have strong diplomatic ties to the home base (Rome), he enabled the flourishing here of a local culture which was Second Temple period Judaism,” he said.

   “That delicate balance is really a remarkable thing to see in history, and Herod accomplished that.”

   Roi Porat, a Hebrew University archaeologist who worked on the excavation of Herodium, said Herod had tried to resolve the internal conflict of belonging to two opposing camps.

   “On the one hand, he wanted to be a Jewish king, and on the other, he wanted to be the King of Judaea for the Romans,” he told AFP.

   “He tried to win the sympathy of both sides by building a holy site of worship for the Jews and by building the largest temple for the Romans,” he explained.

   Everything about Herod was extreme, he said: his diplomatic skills, his financial abilities and his ambitious construction projects, which included six desert palaces, the Temple and the port of Caesaria.

   But the exhibit has also stirred some controversy and come under fire from the Palestinians, as it uses artefacts from Jericho and Herodium — both in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

   Hamdan Taha, director of antiquities and cultural heritage at the Palestinian tourism ministry, accused Israel of displaying the antiquities “without the approval” of the Palestinian Authority in what he said was a “violation of international law.”

   “Showing those relics at an Israeli museum aims to create historical facts to serve the goals of settlement activities in the state of Palestine,” he said.

   The Palestinians said they would raise the issue with the UN cultural body, UNESCO, where they recently gained full membership.

2. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ২ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৩:০৯ অপরাহ্ণ)

   আজ সকালে ৫.৫ মাত্রার ভূমিকম্পে কেঁপে উঠেছে সিলেট ও পাশ্ববর্তী অঞ্চল, সিলেট থেকে ৪১ কিমি দক্ষিণপূর্বে ভারতের আসাম রাজ্যের করিমগঞ্জে ছিল ভূমিকম্পের কেন্দ্রস্থল। আসামের করিমগঞ্জে কিছু বাড়িতে ফাটলের খবর আসলেও সিলেট অঞ্চল থেকে এখনো ক্ষয়ক্ষতির কোনো খবর আসেনি।

   Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses.earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ev… twitter.com/urumurum/statu…

   — masud karim (@urumurum) March 2, 2013

   Summary

   Event Time

   2013-03-02 01:30:39 UTC
   2013-03-02 07:30:39 UTC+06:00 at epicenter
   2013-03-02 07:30:39 UTC+06:00 system time

   Location

   24.690°N 92.216°E depth=37.3km (23.2mi)
   Nearby Cities

   23km (14mi) SW of Karimganj, India
   35km (22mi) W of Hailakandi, India
   36km (22mi) N of Dharmanagar, India
   41km (25mi) ESE of Sylhet, Bangladesh
   213km (132mi) ENE of Dhaka, Bangladesh

   

   ভূমিকম্পে কেঁপে উঠল সিলেট

   ৫ দশমিক ৫ মাত্রার ভূমিকম্পে ক্ষয়ক্ষতির কোনো খবর তাৎক্ষণিকভাবে পাওয়া যায়নি।

   তবে ভূমিকম্পে দালানগুলো কেঁপে ওঠায় মানুষের মধ্যে আতঙ্ক দেখা দেয়।

   সিলেট ভূকম্পন পর্যবেক্ষণ কেন্দ্রের প্রধান সাঈদ আহমদ চৌধুরী বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে জানান, সকাল ৭টা ৩০ মিনিট ৪৭ সেকেন্ডে সিলেট এবং এর আশেপাশের জেলাগুলোতে ভূকম্পন অনুভূত হয়।

   রিখটার স্কেলে এর মাত্রা ৫ দশমিক ৪ ছিল বলে জানান তিনি। তবে ইউএস জিওলজিক্যাল সার্ভের তথ্য অনুযায়ী এর মাত্রা ছিল ৫ দশমিক ৫।

   এই ভূমিকম্পের কেন্দ্রস্থল ভারতের আসাম রাজ্যের করিমগঞ্জে ভারত-বাংলাদেশ সীমান্ত এলাকায় সিলেট শহর থেকে ৪১ কিলোমিটার দূরে।

   ঢাকা থেকে ২১৩ কিলোমিটার উত্তর-পুর্বে ভূমিকম্পের উৎপত্তিস্থলের অবস্থান বলে জানিয়েছেন এই আবহাওয়াবিদ।

   Cracks develop in some houses in Silchar due to earthquake that struck Karimganj at 7:01AM today twitter.com/ANI_news/statu…

   — ANI (@ANI_news) March 2, 2013

3. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ২ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৩:২১ অপরাহ্ণ)

   হুগো শাভেজের জীবনমৃত্যু নিয়ে গুজবের ডালপালা গজাচ্ছেই। কিন্তু রাষ্ট্রীয় ভাবে সর্বশেষ খবর হল, তিনি ক্যান্সারের সাথে বেঁচে থাকার লড়াই চালিয়ে যাচ্ছেন দেশেরই এক সামরিক হাসপাতালে যেখানে কিউবা থেকে গত ১৮ ফেব্রুয়ারিতে দেশে ফেরার পর থেকেই তিনি অবস্থান করছেন।

   

   Chavez Continues Fight for Life – Vice President

   Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment and is continuing “his battle for life,” the country’s vice president has said.

   Vice President Nicolas Maduro’s comments, carried by the Associated Press, came late on Friday amid swirling rumors about the cancer-stricken Chavez, who has not been seen in public since heading to Cuba for treatment in mid-December.

   Maduro was speaking after a Mass for Chavez in a chapel near the military hospital where authorities say the socialist leader has been since he returned to Caracas on February 18.

   He quoted Chavez as saying he had decided to return to Venezuela to enter “a new phase” of “more intense and tough” treatments.

   Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, defeated by Chavez in the country’s October presidential elections, had accused the government of lying about the socialist leader’s condition shortly before Maduro’s statement.

   “We’ll see how they explain to the country… all the lies they’ve been telling about the president’s situation,” Capriles said in a tweet.

   But Maduro – Chavez’s chosen successor – accused opponents of spreading false rumors about the president’s health to destabilize the country.

   Chavez’s son-in-law, Science Minister Jorge Arreaza, said on state television this week that the president continues “to fight hard and is in the military hospital, as peaceful as he could be, with his doctors, with his family.”

   • 

     মাসুদ করিম - ৬ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১০:৩১ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

     হুগো শাভেজ ও ক্যান্সারের (কী ক্যান্সার হয়েছিল সেটা গোপন রাখা হয়েছে, আজো গোপন আছে) লড়াইয়ে ক্যান্সার জিতল, কিউবায় করা চারটি অপারেশন (শেষটি হয়েছিল ১১ ডিসেম্বর) কেমোথেরাপি রেডিয়েশন সব চিকিৎসা ব্যর্থ করে ৫৮ বছর বয়সে এই অসমসাহসী মানুষটিকে শেষ পর্যন্ত নিস্তব্ধ হতে হল, ভাইস প্রেসিডেন্ট নিকোলাস মাদুরো ভেনিজুয়েলার রাষ্ট্রীয় টেলিভিশনে হুগো শাভেজের মৃত্যুর আনুষ্ঠানিক ঘোষণা দেন, আমাদের কাছে সবচেয়ে কঠিন ও হৃদয়বিদারক খবরটি এসে পৌঁছেছে… আমাদের নেতা প্রেসিডেন্ট হুগো শাভেজ আজ (০৫ ফেব্রুয়ারি) বিকাল ৪:২৫এ (বাংলাদেশ সময় রাত ১১:২৫) মৃত্যুবরণ করেছেন।

     

     হুগো শাভেজের মৃত্যুতে ত্রিশ দিনের মধ্যে নতুন প্রেসিডেন্ট নির্বাচনে যেতে হবে ভেনিজুয়েলাকে। শাভেজের দল থেকে নিকোলাস মাদুরোই প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বিতা করবেন আশা করা যাচ্ছে।

     
     হুগো শাভেজেরে মৃত্যুর আনুষ্ঠানিক ঘোষণা দিচ্ছেন ভাইস প্রেসিডেন্ট নিকোলাস মাদুরো।

     Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez Dies From Cancer at 58

     Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died after a prolonged battle with cancer, Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced on national television.

     The announcement came hours after an emergency government meeting following reports that the health of Venezuela’s charismatic socialist leader was failing.

     “We have received the toughest and tragic information that… Comandante President Hugo Chavez died today [Tuesday] at 4:25 pm [17:25 GMT],” Maduro said in an emotional address to Venezuelans.

     Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Defense Minister, Admiral Diego Molero, appealed on national television for “unity, tranquility and understanding” among Venezuelans and vowed that the military will remain loyal to the constitution in the wake of Chavez’s death.

     Chavez, 58, who has ruled Venezuela for 14 years, has had four operations for cancer and four courses of chemotherapy in Cuba and Venezuela within a year. His fourth operation, to remove cancerous tissue, took place in Cuba on December 11.

     Chavez, who was known as the most vocal US adversary in Latin America, won a new six-year term at an election in October and his inauguration was slated for January 11, but he was unable to attend due to health reasons.

     Chavez named Vice President Maduro as his potential successor before going for the latest surgery in December.

     Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said in televised comments late on Tuesday that Venezuela will hold new presidential elections in 30 days and Maduro will assume presidency during the interim period.

     According to Jaua, Chavez’s public funeral will be held on Friday and Venezuelans will observe a seven-day mourning period for the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.

     Maduro has earlier said that he had no doubt that “the historical enemies of the country sought for a weak spot to harm the health” of President Hugo Chavez.

     He insisted that in due time, a scientific commission will be formed to certify whether the Venezuelan president was attacked with the illness he has been suffering for almost two years.

     Venezuela expelled on Tuesday two US diplomats on alleged espionage charges.

     Following the announcement of Chavez’s death, US President Barack Obama issued a brief statement reaffirming the US support “for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government.”

     “As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights,” the statement said.

     হুগো শাভেজের ঘাতক ক্যান্সারের সাথে তার লড়াইয়ের ক্রমপঞ্জি।

     Hugo Chavez’s cancer: chronology of Venezuelan leader’s cancer struggle

     Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has undergone surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment since June 2011 for an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer. Key moments in his medical treatment have included:

     — June 30, 2011: Chavez says on television from Cuba that he had a cancerous tumor removed from his pelvic region. He later says the tumor extracted was the size of a baseball.

     — July 4, 2011: Chavez returns to Venezuela, but later travels to Cuba periodically for chemotherapy and medical tests.

     — Sept. 23, 2011: Chavez says he completed chemotherapy and calls the treatment successful. Says later that tests show no reappearance of cancer cells.

     — Feb. 21, 2012: Chavez says his doctors found a new lesion in the same place where the tumor was previously removed, and announces plans to return to Cuba for surgery.

     — Feb. 26, 2012: Chavez undergoes operation that removes the tumor from the same location in his pelvic region. Says later that follow-up tests showed the tumor was “recurrence of the initially diagnosed cancer.”

     — March 24, 2012: Chavez travels to Cuba to begin radiation therapy.

     — April 14, 2012: Chavez travels to Cuba for second round of radiation treatment.

     — April 26, 2012: Chavez returns to Venezuela following cancer treatment in Cuba, saying his latest round of therapy was successful.

     — July 9, 2012: Chavez says at a news conference that tests show he is “totally free” of cancer.

     — Oct. 7, 2012: Chavez wins re-election to another six-year term, beating challenger Henrique Capriles.

     — Nov. 27, 2012: Chavez says he will travel to Cuba for more medical treatment. He says doctors have recommended he “begin special treatment consisting of various sessions of hyperbaric oxygenation.”

     — Dec. 9, 2012: Chavez announces that a cancerous tumor reappeared and that he must travel to Cuba for another operation. He says the surgery could be complicated and that if he is unable to stay on as president, Vice President Nicolas Maduro should run in an election to take his place.

     — Dec. 10, 2012: Chavez travels to Cuba and undergoes surgery the next day.

     — Jan. 10, 1013: Chavez misses his scheduled swearing-in ceremony, which was indefinitely postponed by lawmakers. Supporters stage symbolic inauguration in the streets of Caracas, swearing themselves in in their leader’s place.

     — Feb. 13, 2013: Maduro says Chavez is undergoing “extremely complex and tough” treatments.

     — Feb. 15, 2013: Government shows first photos of Chavez in more than two months, says he is breathing through a tracheal tube.

     — Feb. 18, 2013: Chavez returns from Cuba, tweets, “We will live and we will triumph!!” Supporters celebrate in streets. But Chavez heads immediately to a military hospital, making no public personal appearance.

     — Feb. 22, 2013: Foreign Minister Elias Jaua reads long letter from Chavez to summit of African and South American leaders.

     — March 1, 2013: Maduro says Chavez is receiving chemotherapy and “continues his battle for life.” He describes the treatments as “intense and tough.”

     — March 4, 2013: Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas says Chavez has “a new and severe infection” and is in a “very delicate” condition.

     

     • 

       মাসুদ করিম - ১১ মার্চ ২০১৩ (২:২৬ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

       এটা ভেনেজুয়েলার মাদুরো বলেন এটা ইরানের আহমাদিনেজাদে বলেন এবং এটা বলিভিয়ার মোরালেসও বলেন ঐতিহাসিক শত্রুরা বা সাম্রাজ্যবাদী শত্রুরাই বিষ প্রয়োগে বা অন্য কোনো উপায়ে শাভেজকে ক্যান্সার আক্রান্ত করে তাকে হত্যা করেছেন। তিনজনই এব্যাপারে ‘নিশ্চিত’ কিন্তু কিউবায় যেখানে শাভেজের চিকিৎসা হয়েছে, সেখানকার চিকিৎসকরা কেউই কি ব্যাপারটি ধরতে পারেননি? নাকি চিকিৎসাশাস্ত্র এখনো এটা ধরার মতো জ্ঞান আয়ত্ত করতে পারেনি? তাহলে শুধু ‘নিশ্চিত’ অনুমানের ভিত্তিতেই আমরা বলব শাভেজকে সাম্রাজ্যবাদীরা হত্যা করেছে?

       Bolivian President Evo Morales said Saturday he was “almost certain” that “the empire” (the United States) had poisoned his political ally, late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, regional media reported.

       President Chavez, who led Venezuela for 14 years, died Tuesday at the age of 58 after a two-year-long fight against cancer.

       Nicolas Maduro, who had been vice president under Chavez and was sworn in as acting president Friday, earlier accused Venezuela’s enemies of causing cancer in Chavez, saying the issue would be investigated by a special commission.

       বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : Bolivian President Says “Almost Certain” Chavez was Poisoned

4. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ৪ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১০:৫২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

   পাকিস্তানের বালুচিস্তানের শিয়া ধর্মাবলম্বী জনজাতি হাজারাদের নিশ্চিহ্ন করে দিতে একই অঞ্চলের সুন্নি ধর্মাবলম্বী বালুচ জাতির বারহুই উপগোষ্ঠী দেওবন্দি সৌদি অর্থপুষ্ট সন্ত্রাসী সংগঠন লস্কর-ই-জাংভির আক্রমণ চলছেই,বলা হচ্ছে এই ‘সিলেক্টিভ জেনোসাইড’ সৌদি-ইরান বা সুন্নি-শিয়া ঠান্ডা যুদ্ধের সংঘাত থেকে উদ্ভূত যাতে পাকিস্তানের সামরিক বাহিনীর গোয়েন্দা সংস্থা আইএসআই-ও লস্কর-ই-জাংভিকে শক্তি জোগাচ্ছে বালুচিস্তানের জাতীয়তাবাদী স্পৃহাকে দ্বিধাবিভক্ত করে দেয়ার জন্য, অবশ্য আফগানিস্তানে ইরান ভারত আমেরিকা পাকিস্তানের প্রভাব বিস্তারের জটিল হিসাব নিকাশের ছাপও পড়েছে এই ক্ষুদ্র হাজারা জনজাতির উপর যাদের আদিনিবাস ছিল মধ্য আফগানিস্তানে এবং বেলুচিস্তানে প্রধানত এরা রাজধানী কোয়েটার অধিবাসী।

   
   কোয়েটায় বোমা হামলায় হাজারা নারীদের প্রতিবাদ

   The Hazara-Shias also claim that they have wisened to the conspiracy. The Baruhis killing the Hazara-Shias is an argument that builds on another claim that poverty is one of the major drivers of extremism and terrorism. After all, the LeJ has received enough funds from Saudi Arabia, especially in the recent months. In any case, the LeJ leadership gets a lot of money and support from the Punjabi leadership of Nawaz Sharif and his faction of the Pakistan Muslim League. So, since the LeJ has started to move into Balochistan along with other militant outfits, it has enough resources to buy people and use them for killing minorities. The impression created then is that poor Baruhis would like to kill the Hazaras with whom they have a historic problem. The Hazaras came from Afghanistan and are considered outsiders. But sources that I spoke with from the province also talked about a conspiracy by State actors to create this misunderstanding among the communities. They argue that the LeJ is being used to create an impression of internecine warfare.

   The narrative that the LeJ is divided into two — the friendly and the unfriendly — counters the people’s conspiracy theory. While the friendly faction sits in Punjab, the unfriendly bunch is based in the restive North Waziristan province and creates violence. Such an argument tends to absolve the State’s military machine of any responsibility.

   THE MORE important fact is that the LeJ or other militant outfits are nothing but conduits to carry out a policy or shoulder blame for a certain policy perspective. Baloch politician and Senator Hasil Bazenjo was of the view that such killings mirror the Saudi Arabia-Iran Cold War. This is certainly an important argument. However, the Cold War theory does not necessarily explain the sudden upsurge in Hazara-Shia killings in Balochistan or other parts of the country, especially Gilgit-Baltistan (in PoK). The Saudi-Iran Cold War dates back to the 1980s. It resulted in the creation of many of the militant outfits, including Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and the LeJ.

   Nevertheless, this is not a new war. The real question no one wants to ask is, what has propelled the sudden spike in Hazara-Shia killings?

   Some of the sources I spoke with talked about the endgame in Afghanistan as being a possible reason. Since conthe State wants to have its share of the Afghan pie, it has deployed these outfits in Balochistan and the violence is, in fact, an inadvertent result of the militant presence. This could be a possibility. However, considering that Pakistan is trying to work out an arrangement with the US for a future role in Afghanistan, it would not try to draw attention by creating trouble for the US or in the region.

   The fact that the Pakistan Army has remained relatively silent on the recent Line of Control incident or Afzal Guru’s killing and even kept its other assets like the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e- Toiba silent indicates the GHQ’s unwillingness to rock the boat.

   The only remaining explanation pertains to the military’s discomfort with Iran and a strong suspicion that Tehran is funding and supporting Hazara-Shias and Shias in Pakistan. In the past, some of the journalists close to the military have expressed suspicion of the Hazaras. The fact that Hazaras now have the money to buy bigger cakes for Shab-e-Barat celebrations or are invited to Iran for Ayatollah Khomeini’s birthday celebrations is cited as evidence of this community being Iran’s proxy in Pakistan.

   The Pakistan Army has been suspicious of Iranian Shi’ism for long, especially since the early 1980s. Once close to Iran, Pakistan has drifted away from Tehran due to increased association with Riyadh. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, Saudi Arabia invested funds in fostering militancy in Pakistan to secure its position vis-à-vis Tehran.

   Right now, many powerful stakeholders, including the US, would want to see Iran weakened. This means that major power brokers in the area may sympathise with the Hazaras, but none would play an extensive role in saving this community from extinction, especially if the Pakistan Army has evidence or strong suspicion of these people working as Tehran’s proxies.

   There is certainly a close linkage between the State and non-State actors as far as violence in Balochistan is concerned. Unless people are willing to understand this equation and ready to protest the State’s linkage and peculiar perspective, no relief will ever come to the Hazara-Shias. Their’s is the blood that will continue to flow.

   বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : The Hazard of Being a Hazara in Balochistan।

5. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ৪ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১:০১ অপরাহ্ণ)

   উর্দুতে তেমনভাবে অনূদিত হয়নি রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুরের সাহিত্যকর্ম। ভারতের সংস্কৃতি মন্ত্রণালয়ের উদ্যোগে এবং প্রণব মুখার্জি যখন অর্থমন্ত্রী ছিলেন তার অর্থসংস্থানের সিদ্ধান্তে নির্বাচিত কিছু সাহিত্যকর্মের অনুবাদের কাজ শুরু হতে যাচ্ছে।

   Tagore works to be translated into Urdu

   At a three-day seminar that opened Friday at Jamia Millia Islamia, “Rabindranath Tagore in the Twenty First Century”, speakers dwelt on the relevance of Tagore to minority linguistic groups – especially Urdu-speaking communities. The bard from Bengal, whose 150th birth centenary was observed in 2011, has found a growing readership among the youth and students.

   The seminar is part of a two-year project, “Tagore Research and Translation Scheme”, granted by the ministry of culture to translate and publish 10 of Tagore’s most important works for Urdu readers.

   Delivering the keynote address, Jawahar Sircar, CEO of Prasar Bharati, said: “For an upper caste Hindu who could have made a mistake (using hostile or derogatory references) about Pakistan and the Urdu-speaking Muslims, he did not make a single one”.

   Sircar said Tagore endeared himself as a “secular literary icon” to millions of people in Bangladesh post-liberation, and became the national poet of the country with his anthem – “Amar Sonar Bangla…” that was later adopted as that country’s national anthem.

   Sircar said in the 1950s, the Bengali speaking people in erstwhile East Pakistan came into conflict over language and cultural matters with Urdu-speaking people.

   “In this conflict of interest, former Pakistan president Ayub Khan ‘saheb’ went through the entire literature of Tagore to see if there were any paragraphs which had something bad to say about Pakistan or the Urdu-speaking communities”.

   Sircar said Ayub Khan scanned Tagore’s works for something that he could use against Bengali, but found nothing.

   “Not a single line could be found that could be used against him (Tagore). The spirit enshrined was one of brotherhood. There was empathy and sympathy with the peasantry and the Muslims. Tagore stood out because he had spoken about the emancipation of women as well,” Sircar said.
   
   “The message of his writing about the socially marginalised and the oppressed was: ‘Why do you take it?'” Sircar said.

   The bureaucrat, who understands Urdu, said “Bengali and Urdu ” were two of the sweetest languages in the country.

   Explaining the aim and importance of the “Tagore Research and Translation Scheme”, Sircar said the project was a commemorative initiative to mark the poet’s 150th birth anniversary, 2011-2012.

   “We got an opportunity to translate several of Tagore’s works in Urdu. I met Najeeb Jung and pounced upon him because I knew there was a repository of scholars at Jamia Millia. We met Pranab Mukherjee (then finance minister) and it was approved in five minutes,” Sircar recalled.

   The culture ministry had sanctioned Rs. one crore (Rs.10 million) for the project.

   Najeeb Jung, vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia, said the project has equipped Urdu scholars to research Tagore.

   “But for a year since we launched the project, there has not been any substantial research. You have not thought about translations or research. The most difficult task in the world is translation because it is tough to capture the essence of the language. We have taken up translation from a subject – Bengali – which we haven’t read,” Jung said.

6. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ৫ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১:১৩ অপরাহ্ণ)

   যন্ত্রনির্মাণের পদ্ধতি ও তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি দিয়ে ‘মন’ সৃষ্টির থিওরি ও ‘চিন্তা’র গোপনসূত্র উদঘাটনের প্রয়াস আগ্রহোদ্দীপক হতে পারে কিন্তু অসম্ভব। মস্তিষ্কের বিন্যাস উপলব্ধির প্রক্রিয়া পাঠ করে মন পাঠ করে ফেলার উত্তেজনা সত্যিই সাময়িক। পড়ুন এখানে তুলে দেয়া এই পুস্তক সমালোচনা।

   Homunculism
   March 21, 2013 | Colin McGinn

   How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed
   by Ray Kurzweil
   Viking, 336 pp., $27.95

   According to Wikipedia, Ray Kurzweil is an

   American author, inventor, futurist, and director of engineering at Google. Aside from futurology, he is involved in such fields as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments.

   So he is a computer engineer specializing in word recognition technology, with a side interest in bold predictions about future machines. He is not a professional neuroscientist or psychologist or philosopher. Yet here we have a book purporting to reveal—no less—“the secret of human thought.” Kurzweil is going to tell us, in no uncertain terms, “how to create a mind”: that is to say, he has a grand theory of the human mind, in which its secrets will be finally revealed.

   These are strong claims indeed, and one looks forward eagerly to learning what this new theory will look like. Perhaps at first one feels a little skeptical that Kurzweil has succeeded where so many have failed, but one tries to keep an open mind—hoping the book will justify the hype so blatantly brandished in its title. After all, Kurzweil has honors from three US presidents (so says Wikipedia) and was the “principal inventor of the first CCD flatbed scanner” and other useful devices, as well as receiving many other entrepreneurial awards. He is clearly a man of many parts—but is ultimate theoretician of the mind one of them?

   What is this grand theory? It is set out in chapter 3 of the book, “A Model of the Neocortex: The Pattern Recognition Theory of Mind.” One cannot help noting immediately that the theory echoes Kurzweil’s professional achievements as an inventor of word recognition machines: the “secret of human thought” is pattern recognition, as it is implemented in the hardware of the brain. To create a mind therefore we need to create a machine that recognizes patterns, such as letters and words. Calling this the PRTM (pattern recognition theory of mind), Kurzweil outlines what his theory amounts to by reference to the neural architecture of the neocortex, the wrinkled thin outer layer of the brain.

   According to him, there are about 300 million neural pattern recognizers in the neocortex, with a distinctive arrangement of dendrites and axons (the tiny fibers that link one neuron to another). A stimulus is presented, say, the letter “A,” and these little brain machines respond by breaking it down into its geometric constituents, which are then processed: thus “A” is analyzed into a horizontal bar and two angled lines meeting at a point. By recognizing each constituent separately, the neural machine can combine them and finally recognize that the stimulus is an instance of the letter “A.” It can then use this information to combine with other letter recognizers to recognize, say, the word “APPLE.” This procedure is said to be “hierarchical,” meaning that it proceeds by part-whole analysis: from elementary shapes, to letters, to words, to sentences. To recognize the whole pattern you first have to recognize the parts.

   The process of recognition, which involves the firing of neurons in response to stimuli from the world, will typically include weightings of various features, as well as a lowering of response thresholds for probable constituents of the pattern. Thus some features will be more important than others to the recognizer, while the probability of recognizing a presented shape as an “E” will be higher if it occurs after “APPL.”

   These recognizers will therefore be “intelligent,” able to anticipate and correct for poverty and distortion in the stimulus. This process mirrors our human ability to recognize a face, say, when in shadow or partially occluded or drawn in caricature. Kurzweil contends that such pattern recognizers are uniform across the brain, so that all regions of the neocortex work in basically the same manner. This is why, he thinks, the brain exhibits plasticity: one part can take over the job performed by another part because all parts work according to the same principles.

   It is this uniformity of anatomy and function that emboldens him to claim that he has a quite general theory of the mind, since pattern recognition is held to be the essence of mind and all pattern recognition is implemented by the same basic neural mechanisms. And since we can duplicate these mechanisms in a machine, there is nothing to prevent us from creating an artificial mind—we just need to install the right pattern recognizers (which Kurzweil can manufacture for a price). The “secret of thought” is therefore mechanical pattern recognition, with hierarchical structure and suitable weightings for constituent features. All is revealed!

   What are we to make of this theory? First, pattern recognition is a subject much studied by perceptual psychologists, so Kurzweil is hardly original in calling attention to it (I worked on it myself as a psychology student back in 1970). What is more original is his contention that it provides the key to mental phenomena in general.

   However, that claim seems obviously false. Pattern recognition pertains to perception specifically, not to all mental activity: the perceptual systems process stimuli and categorize what is presented to the senses, but that is only part of the activity of the mind. In what way does thinking involve processing a stimulus and categorizing it? When I am thinking about London while in Miami I am not recognizing any presented stimulus as London—since I am not perceiving London with my senses. There is no perceptual recognition going on at all in thinking about an absent object. So pattern recognition cannot be the essential nature of thought. This point seems totally obvious and quite devastating, yet Kurzweil has nothing to say about it, not even acknowledging the problem.

   He does in one place speak of dreaming as a “sequence of patterns” and he might try to say the same about thinking. But this faces obvious objections. First, even if that is true, there is no pattern recognition involved when I dream, or when I think about London and my friends and relatives there. So his “model of the neocortex” does not apply. Second, it is quite unclear what this description is supposed to mean. Why is a dream a sequence of “patterns,” instead of just ideas or images or hallucinations? The notion of “pattern” has lost its moorings in the geometric models of letters and faces: Are we seriously to suppose that dreams and thoughts have geometrical shape? At best the word “pattern” is now being used loosely and metaphorically; there is no theory of dreaming or thinking here. Similarly for Kurzweil’s claim that memories are “sequences of patterns”: What notion of pattern is he working with here? Why is remembering that I have to feed the cat itself some kind of pattern?

   What has happened is that he has switched from patterns as stimuli in the external environment to patterns as mental entities, without acknowledging the switch; and it is hardly plausible to suggest that dreams and thoughts are themselves geometric patterns that we introspectively recognize. So what is the point of calling dreams and thoughts “patterns”? The truth is that the PRTM does not generalize beyond its original home of sensory perception—the recognition of external patterns in the environment.

   Indeed, it is notable that Kurzweil makes no serious effort to generalize beyond the perceptual case, blithely proceeding as if everything mental involves perception. In fact, it is not even clear that all perception involves pattern recognition in any significant sense. When I see an apple as red, do I recognize the color as a pattern? No, because the color is not a geometric arrangement of shapes or anything analogous to that—it is simply a homogeneous sensory quality. Is the sweetness of sugar or the smell of a rose a pattern? Not every perceived feature of objects resembles a letter of the alphabet or a word—the objects of Kurzweil’s professional interest and expertise.

   Then there are such mental phenomena as emotion, imagination, reasoning, willing, intending, calculating, silently talking to oneself, feeling pain and pleasure, itches, and moods—the full panoply of the mind. In what useful sense do all these count as “pattern recognition”? Certainly they are nothing like the perceptual cases on which Kurzweil focuses. He makes no attempt to explain how these very various mental phenomena fit his supposedly general theory of mind—and they clearly do not. So he has not shown us how to “create a mind,” or come anywhere near to doing so. Thus the hype of the title explodes very early and with a feeble fizzle. Why write a book with such an ambitious title and then deliver so little?

   There is another glaring problem with Kurzweil’s book: the relentless and unapologetic use of homunculus language. Kurzweil writes: “The firing of the axon is that pattern recognizer shouting the name of the pattern: ‘Hey guys, I just saw the written word “apple.”’” Again:

   If, for example, we are reading from left to right and have already seen and recognized the letters “A,” “P,” “P,” and “L,” the “APPLE” recognizer will predict that it is likely to see an “E” in the next position. It will send a signal down to the “E” recognizer saying, in effect, “Please be aware that there is a high likelihood that you will see your “E” pattern very soon, so be on the lookout for it.” The “E” recognizer then adjusts its threshold such that it is more likely to recognize an “E.”

   Presumably (I am not entirely sure) Kurzweil would agree that such descriptions cannot be taken literally: individual neurons don’t say things or predict things or see things—though it is perhaps as if they do. People say and predict and see, not little bunches of neurons, still less bits of machines. Such anthropomorphic descriptions of cortical activity must ultimately be replaced by literal descriptions of electric charge and chemical transmission (though they may be harmless for expository purposes). Still, they are not scientifically acceptable as they stand.

   But the problem bites deeper than that, for two reasons. First, homunculus talk can give rise to the illusion that one is nearer to accounting for the mind, properly so-called, than one really is. If neural clumps can be characterized in psychological terms, then it looks as if we are in the right conceptual ballpark when trying to explain genuine mental phenomena—such as the recognition of words and faces by perceiving conscious subjects. But if we strip our theoretical language of psychological content, restricting ourselves to the physics and chemistry of cells, we are far from accounting for the mental phenomena we wish to explain. An army of homunculi all recognizing patterns, talking to each other, and having expectations might provide a foundation for whole-person pattern recognition; but electrochemical interactions across cell membranes are a far cry from actually consciously seeing something as the letter “A.” How do we get from pure chemistry to full-blown psychology?

   And the second point is that even talk of “pattern recognition” by neurons is already far too homunculus-like for comfort: people (and animals) recognize patterns—neurons don’t. Neurons simply emit electrical impulses when caused to do so by impinging stimuli; they don’t recognize anything in the literal sense. Recognizing is a conscious mental act. Neither do neurons read or understand—though they may be said to simulate these mental acts.

   Here I must say something briefly about the standard language that neuroscience has come to assume in the last fifty or so years (the subject deserves extended treatment). Even in sober neuroscience textbooks we are routinely told that bits of the brain “process information,” “send signals,” and “receive messages”—as if this were as uncontroversial as electrical and chemical processes occurring in the brain. We need to scrutinize such talk with care. Why exactly is it thought that the brain can be described in these ways? It is a collection of biological cells like any bodily organ, much like the liver or the heart, which are not apt to be described in informational terms. It can hardly be claimed that we have observed information transmission in the brain, as we have observed certain chemicals; this is a purely theoretical description of what is going on. So what is the basis for the theory?

   The answer must surely be that the brain is causally connected to the mind and the mind contains and processes information. That is, a conscious subject has knowledge, memory, perception, and the power of reason—I have various kinds of information at my disposal. No doubt I have this information because of activity in my brain, but it doesn’t follow that my brain also has such information, still less microscopic bits of it. Why do we say that telephone lines convey information? Not because they are intrinsically informational, but because conscious subjects are at either end of them, exchanging information in the ordinary sense. Without the conscious subjects and their informational states, wires and neurons would not warrant being described in informational terms.

   The mistake is to suppose that wires and neurons are homunculi that somehow mimic human subjects in their information-processing powers; instead they are simply the causal background to genuinely informational transactions. The brain considered in itself, independently of the mind, does not process information or send signals or receive messages, any more than the heart does; people do, and the brain is the underlying mechanism that enables them to do so. It is simply false to say that one neuron literally “sends a signal” to another; what it does is engage in certain chemical and electrical activities that are causally connected to genuine informational activities.

   Contemporary brain science is thus rife with unwarranted homunculus talk, presented as if it were sober established science. We have discovered that nerve fibers transmit electricity. We have not, in the same way, discovered that they transmit information. We have simply postulated this conclusion by falsely modeling neurons on persons. To put the point a little more formally: states of neurons do not have propositional content in the way states of mind have propositional content. The belief that London is rainy intrinsically and literally contains the propositional content that London is rainy, but no state of neurons contains that content in that way—as opposed to metaphorically or derivatively (this kind of point has been forcibly urged by John Searle for a long time).

   And there is theoretical danger in such loose talk, because it fosters the illusion that we understand how the brain can give rise to the mind. One of the central attributes of mind is information (propositional content) and there is a difficult question about how informational states can come to exist in physical organisms. We are deluded if we think we can make progress on this question by attributing informational states to the brain. To be sure, if the brain were to process information, in the full-blooded sense, then it would be apt for producing states like belief; but it is simply not literally true that it processes information. We are accordingly left wondering how electrochemical activity can give rise to genuine informational states like knowledge, memory, and perception. As so often, surreptitious homunculus talk generates an illusion of theoretical understanding.*

   Returning to Ray Kurzweil, I must applaud his chapter on consciousness and free will—for its existence, if not for its content. He is at least aware that these are difficult philosophical and scientific problems; he commendably refrains from offering facile “solutions” of the kind beloved by the brain-enamored. But the chapter sits ill with the earlier parts of the book, in which we are confidently assured that the author has a grand theory of the mind, in the form of the PRTM. For consciousness and free will are surely central aspects of the human mind and yet Kurzweil makes no claim (wisely) that they can be reductively explained by means of his 300 million “pattern recognizers” (which don’t, as I have noted, really recognize anything).

   To create a mind one needs at a minimum to create consciousness, but Kurzweil doesn’t even attempt to describe a way for doing that. He is content simply to record his conviction (he calls it a “leap of faith”) that if a machine can pass the Turing test we can declare it to be conscious—that is, if it talks like a conscious being it must be a conscious being. But this is not to provide any theory of the mechanism of consciousness—of what it is in the brain that enables an organism to be conscious. Clearly, unconscious processes of so-called “pattern recognition” in the neocortex will not suffice for consciousness, being precisely unconscious. All we really get in this chapter is a ramble over very familiar terrain, with nothing added to what currently exists. Worse, there are some quite execrable remarks about the philosophy of Wittgenstein, which demonstrate zero understanding of his philosophy during the periods of the Tractatus-Logico Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations. Kurzweil asks:

   What is it that the later Wittgenstein thought was worth thinking and talking about? It was issues such as beauty and love, which he recognized exist imperfectly in the minds of men.

   So what are we to make of all the discussion of language and meaning in the Investigations? Kurzweil is way out of his depth here.

   The computer engineer gets back to his main field of competence in the penultimate chapter, which restates his earlier published views about the future of information technology. His “futurist” thesis is that computing power doubles every year—information technology improves exponentially, not linearly (he calls this the Law of Accelerating Returns). He boasts that this prediction has been borne out every year since 1890 (the year of the first automated US census), and there does seem to be an empirical basis for it. But is it a law of nature and if so of what kind? What exactly is the reason for it? Technology does not in general improve exponentially, so what is it about information technology that makes this putative law hold? Is it somehow inherent in information itself? That seems hard to understand. Perhaps it is just the way things have contingently been so far, so that the rate of growth may slow down at any minute.

   Kurzweil acknowledges that there are physical limits on the “law,” imposed by the structure of the atom and its possible states; it is not that computing power will double every year for all eternity! So the “law” doesn’t seem much like other scientific laws, such as the law of gravity or even the law of supply and demand. What seems to me worth noting is that the growth of information technology does not depend on the nature of the material substrate in which information exists (such as silicon chips), because new substrates keep being invented. Once the information capacity of one medium has been exhausted, engineers come up with a new medium, with even more potential states and yet more tightly packed. But then the “law” depends on a prediction about human ingenuity—that we will keep inventing ever more powerful physical systems for computation.

   It is therefore ultimately a psychological law: to the effect that human creativity in the field of information technology improves exponentially. And that doesn’t look like a natural law at all, but just a fortunate historical fact about the twentieth century. Thus Kurzweil’s “law” is more likely to be fortuitous than genuinely law-like: there is no necessity that information technology improves exponentially over (all?) time. It is just an accidental, though interesting, historical fact, not written into the basic workings of the cosmos. As philosophers say, the generalization lacks nomological necessity.

   Here then is my overall assessment of this book: interesting in places, fairly readable, moderately informative, but wildly overstated.

   * Not all neuroscience employs homuncular language. Many neuroscientists limit themselves to descriptions of electrical and chemical activity in the brain. The recent announcement by the Obama administration of an ambitious project to map the human brain seems commendably free of homunculus mythology. The same can be said for a recent article in the journal Neuron by six scientists recommending such a project. See A. Paul Alivisatos et al., “The Brain Activity Map Project and the Challenge of Functional Connectomics,” Neuron, Vol. 74 (June 21, 2012)

7. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১১ মার্চ ২০১৩ (২:২০ অপরাহ্ণ)

   বাংলাদেশের টেস্ট ইতিহাসে গৌরবময় দ্বিশতক এলো মুশফিকুর রহিমের ব্যাট থেকে ৬২.৩০ গড়ে।

   

   দ্বিশতকে ইতিহাসের পাতায় মুশফিক

   লাঞ্চ বিরতির আগেই মোহাম্মদ আশরাফুলের সর্বোচ্চ রানের রেকর্ড ভেঙে টেস্টে বাংলাদেশের সবচেয়ে লম্বা ইনিংসের মালিক হয়েছিলেন তিনি।

   আর লাঞ্চের পর নুয়ান কুলারাসেকারার বলে ১ রান নিয়ে দ্বিশতক করে তিনি পৌঁছে যান ইতিহাসের পাতায়।

   ৩২০ বলে ২২টি চার ও ১টি ছয়ের সাহায্যে নিজের দ্বিতীয় শতককে দ্বি-শতকে রূপ দেন বাংলাদেশের অধিনায়ক।

   দ্বি-শতকে পৌঁছানোর পরের বলেই কুলাসেকারার বলে এলবিডব্লিউর ফাঁদে পড়ে সাজঘরের পথ ধরেন তিনি।

   রোববার ষষ্ঠ শতকে আশরাফুলের সর্বোচ্চ টেস্ট ইনিংসের রেকর্ড গড়ার দিনে অনেকটা আড়ালেই ছিলেন মুশফিক। অথচ একই দিনে ১৬২ বলে ১২টি চারের সাহায্যে নিজের দ্বিতীয় টেস্ট শতকে পৌঁছান বাংলাদেশের অধিনায়ক।

   সোমবার গল টেস্টের চতুর্থ দিন শুরুর আগে ক্রিকেটপ্রেমীদের আলোচনা ছিল মোহাম্মদ আশরাফুলকে নিয়ে, অপেক্ষা ছিল টেস্টে প্রথম বাংলাদেশি ব্যাটসম্যানের দ্বিশতকের ইনিংস দেখার।

   ১৮৯ রান নিয়ে শুরু করেন আশরাফুল, সঙ্গী মুশফিকের সংগ্রহ তখন ১৫২। কিন্তু অহেতুক ঝুঁকি নিতে গিয়ে মাত্র ১ রান করেই বিদায় নেন আশরাফুল; সুযোগ হাতছাড়া হয়।

   পাদপ্রদীপের আলোয় না থাকলেও সুযোগ কাজে লাগাতে ভুল করেননি মুশফিক। ১৬১তম ওভারে অজন্তা মেন্ডিসের বল মিডউইকেট দিয়ে সীমানা ছাড়া করে আশরাফুলের ১৯০ রানের রেকর্ড ভেঙে দেশের পক্ষে সর্বোচ্চ রানের রেকর্ড নিজের করে নেন তিনি।

   এরপরই আরেক ইতিহাস গড়লেন ডাবল সেঞ্চুরি করে।

8. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১১ মার্চ ২০১৩ (২:৪৫ অপরাহ্ণ)

   সৌদি আরবের সর্বোচ্চ শাস্তি জনসমক্ষে মস্তক ছিন্ন করা উঠিয়ে গুলি করে মৃত্যু নিশ্চিত করার সুপারিশ করা হচ্ছে। একটা ব্যাপার অবশ্য এই খবরে স্পষ্ট হল না, সেটাও কি জনসমক্ষেই?

   Saudi Arabia Mulls Replacing Public Beheadings with Shooting

   A ministerial committee in Saudi Arabia is considering to formally drop public beheadings as a method of the capital punishment in the kingdom, Al Jazeera reported citing Saudi Arabian newspapers.

   The agency cited Al-Watan daily that the committee, which consists of representatives from the interior and health ministries, the prosecution office and the general directorate of prisons, proposes replacing decapitation with shooting.

   According to laws in the oil-rich kingdom, capital punishment is extended on all criminals, who were found guilty of murder, armed robbery, rape and drug trafficking.

   The death sentences in Saudi Arabia are carried out by beheading in a public square. Last year Saudi Arabia executed 76 people, comparing to 79 in 2011. This year, 15 people were already beheaded.

9. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১১ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১০:০৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

   এটা নিঃসন্দেহে একটা বিশাল আঞ্চলিক সংহতি প্রকল্প, ইরান-পাকিস্তান গ্যাস পাইপলাইন প্রকল্প পাকিস্তানের শিল্পোদ্যোগ ও কর্মসংস্থান এবং ইরানের গ্যাসের বাজার সৃষ্টিতে অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অগ্রগতি। আমেরিকার নতুন করে আরো ‘নিষেধাজ্ঞা’র ঝুঁকির মধ্যেই আহমেদিনেজাদ ও জারদারি বহু প্রতীক্ষিত এই পাইপলাইনের আনুষ্ঠানিক নির্মাণ কাজের উদ্বোধন করলেন আজ। জারদারি জাতে বালুচ, বালুচেরা মানসিকভাবে ইরানিদের অনেক কাছের, সারাজীবন বালুচিস্তানের দিকে পিঠ দিয়ে জীবন কাটানো জারদারি শেষ পর্যন্ত বালুচি অভিজ্ঞানে ইরানের সাথে এত বড় একটা প্রকল্প শুরু করতে পারবেন কিনা তাই ভাবছি। আশা করি এই প্রকল্প ডিসেম্বর ২০১৩ নাগাদ শেষ হয়ে পাকিস্তানের জ্বালানি সমস্যার সমাধানে বিরাট অবদান রাখবে। ইরানের রাষ্ট্রপতি নির্বাচন ও পাকিস্তানের সংসদ নির্বাচন একবারে দোরগোডায়, খুব খারাপ হবে আমেদিনেজাদ-জারদারি এই পাইপলাইনকে নির্বাচনে শুধু তাদের দলের জন্য ভোট টানার কাজে ব্যবহার করলে — গভীরভাবে চাই দুদেশের এসব নির্বাচনী ডামাডোলের চেয়ে এটা সত্যিকার অর্থে একটা আঞ্চলিক সংহতি হয়ে উঠুক, শিল্পোদ্যোগ ও কর্মসংস্থান পাকিস্তানের অর্থনীতির ভিতটাকে শক্ত করে সন্ত্রাসবাদী দুরাবস্থা থেকে উত্তরোত্তর উন্নতিতে সহায়তা করুক।

   

   Despite strong opposition from the US and warnings of economic sanctions, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinijad on Monday officially inaugurated construction work of a delayed $7.5 billion gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan.

   The ceremony, which the president’s office described as a ‘big event’, was held in the Iranian border city of Chabahar. Both presidents were accompanied at the ground-breaking by delegations comprising ministers, top officials as well as representatives of several Arab states.

   Iranian state television showed footage of Ahmadinejad and Zardari shaking hands and offering prayers after unveiling a plaque to mark Pakistan’s involvement.

   “The completion of the pipeline is in the interests of peace, security and progress of the two countries … it will also consolidate the economic, political and security ties of the two nations,” the two presidents said in a joint statement.

   President Zardari, in his address at the ceremony, regarded the pipeline project as “very important” for Pakistan.

   Zardari said world peace was correlated with peace in Pakistan, which, he stressed, was not opposed to or against any other state.

   He said the prosperity of Pakistan and Iran was inter-linked and that the former was striving to become self-reliant. He added that the international community was unaware of the problems of the regional countries.

   Ahmadinejad hailed the fact that work on the new section of the pipeline was going ahead despite US sanctions against Iran’s oil and gas sector imposed over its controversial nuclear programme.

   “This gas pipeline is a sign of show of resistance against domination,” Ahmadinejad said.

   “This pipeline has nothing to do with the nuclear issue, you can not build a nuclear bomb with natural gas,” he said, speaking alongside President Zardari in comments broadcast live on Iranian state television.

   Possible sanctions

   The Iran-Pakistan pipeline is intended to help Pakistan overcome its mushrooming energy needs at a time when the country is facing increased blackouts and energy shortages.

   Dubbed the “peace pipeline”, the project has faced repeated delays since it was conceived in the 1990s to connect Iran’s giant South Pars gas field to India via Pakistan.

   It has also prompted several warnings from the United States of the possible imposition of economic sanctions on Pakistan.

   US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland has warned if the deal is finalised, it “would raise serious concerns under our Iran Sanctions Act.”

   “We’ve made that absolutely clear to our Pakistani counterparts. And just to say again that Iran has proven again and again that it is not a reliable partner,” she said.

   But, brushing aside US concerns and pressures, president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar told Dawn on Sunday that the project was being commissioned purely to meet economic needs of the country and was being executed by two sovereign states.

   “The government is going to initiate this important project in view of the energy requirements. The project will bring economic prosperity, provide better opportunities to the people and help defeat militancy,” he said.

   The Pakistani foreign office said earlier last week that the country is “not in a fix” on account of US pressure on Pakistan because of Iran being sanctioned.

   “Pakistan, being an energy deficient country, is hugely suffering both economically and socially,” a foreign office spokesman told a press conference on Thursday. “We are very clear about this project. It is in our national interest to go ahead with this project.”

   বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : Pakistan, Iran break ground on pipeline project।

10. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ১২ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১২:৫৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পলিটব্যুরোর শীর্ষস্থান ‘স্ট্যান্ডিং কমিটি’র বাইরের কাউকে সাধারণত উপরাষ্ট্রপতি করা হয় না চীনে, কিন্তু চীনের বর্তমান প্রেসিডেন্ট চি জিনপিং (Xi Jinping) তাই করতে যাচ্ছেন খুব সম্ভবত : এক সংস্কারবাদী কিন্তু চি জিনপিং-এর মতোই অতীতের প্রভাবশালী কমিউনিস্ট পার্টির নেতার পুত্র লি ইউআনচাও (Li Yuanchao) হতে যাচ্ছে চি জিনপিং-এর সহযোগী। এবং কাজটি তিনি করতে যাচ্ছেন এখনো যথেষ্ট প্রভাবশালী প্রাক্তন পার্টি প্রধান জিয়াং জেমিনের পছন্দের প্রার্থীকে নাকচ করে।

    Xi Jinping may choose reformist as his VP, in snub to Jiang Zemin

    A reformist member of China’s decision-making Politburo, Li Yuanchao, is set to become the country’s vice-president this week instead of a more senior and conservative official best known for keeping the media in check, sources said.

    Li’s appointment would be a sign that new Communist Party leader and incoming president Xi Jinping’s clout is growing, a source with ties to the leadership said. Xi fended off a bid by influential former president Jiang Zemin to install propaganda tsar Liu Yunshan in the job, the source said.

    Jiang was a major power behind the scenes in the administration of outgoing President Hu Jintao.
    It was Xi’s decision and a sign he is strong and able to say ‘no’ to Jiang

    The post of vice-president is largely symbolic. However the job would raise Li’s profile, give him a role in foreign affairs and further bolster Xi, who took the top jobs in the party and military at the Communist Party congress in November.

    The promotion of Li may also signal a willingness on the part of Xi to pursue limited reforms that Li is known to have advocated in his previous posts, such as making the selection of Communist officials more inclusive.

    Leadership changes in China are thrashed out behind closed doors through horse-trading between new leaders and outgoing or retired leaders anxious to preserve their influence and protect family interests, but reshuffles must go through a choreographed selection process.

    Two other sources, who declined to be identified because it is sensitive to discuss elite politics with foreign media, also confirmed that Xi had decided to make Li his vice-president rather than Liu.

    The National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament, will vote in Xi and Li as president and vice-president respectively on Thursday. Li Keqiang, the party’s new No 2 official, will succeed Wen Jiabao to become premier and oversee the economy and day-to-day running of the cabinet.

    “Li Yuanchao will be vice-president, not Liu Yunshan,” the source with leadership ties said.

    “It was Xi’s decision and a sign he is strong and able to say ‘no’ to Jiang,” the source said.

    In November, Liu was promoted to the seven-man Politburo standing committee with responsibility for propaganda and ideology. He has also taken over two of Xi’s previous positions: president of the Central Party School, which grooms up-and-coming cadres, and top seat on the Secretariat of the party’s elite 205-member Central Committee.

    Liu served as propaganda minister from 2002 to last year, keeping a tight leash on domestic media and China’s internet, which has more than 500 million users.

    His rival, Li, had been widely considered a top contender for a spot on the standing committee in November but party elders led by Jiang used a last-minute straw poll to block him from joining the body, sources have said.

    The vice-presidential appointment “in part is compensation for him not getting into the Politburo standing committee”, said Guo Liangping, a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore’s East Asia Institute.

    “That position has high exposure to the world, it’s high profile, probably more prestigious, but in terms of real power it’s limited.”

    If Li makes it, it would mark the first time since 1998 that the vice president is not a member of the standing committee – the apex of power in China. Li sits on the 25-member Politburo, one notch below the standing committee.

    But both Li and Liu are too old to be potential successors to Xi.

    “This time it’s kind of a holding position,” said Kerry Brown, executive director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

    Li has been regarded as progressive for advocating incremental reforms in how the party promotes officials and consults the populace on policies, but how much influence he has as vice president will be, to a large degree, decided by Xi.

    “If Xi wants a pro-active, tightly-allied kind of vice president, then the vice president will have power. If he wants a purely symbolic figure who is there to do absolutely nothing, then that’s what the vice president will do,” said Brown.

    The vice-presidency was created by a change to the constitution in 1982. President Hu served in that role from 1998 to 2003 which formally anointed him as heir apparent to Jiang. Xi also served in that role from 2008 until the present.

    The duties of the vice-president include assisting the president and taking over the presidency in the event the president resigns or dies in office.

    Li, a “princeling” whose father was a former vice mayor of Shanghai, earned mathematics and economics degrees from two of China’s best universities and has a doctorate in law. He also spent time at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

    • 

      মাসুদ করিম - ১৪ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১০:৪২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

      সিল ছাপ্পড়ে বৈধ হলেন চীনের রাষ্ট্রপতি ও তার উপরাষ্ট্রপতি।

      Xi formally appointed China’s President; new Vice President selected

      The Communist Party of China’s new leader Xi Jinping was on Thursday formally appointed as China’s President, bringing close to completion the party’s four month-long, carefully choreographed once-in-ten year leadership transition.

      Mr. Xi (59), who was chosen as the CPC’s General Secretary in November, was approved by the National People’s Congress, a largely rubber-stamp Parliament, at the Great Hall of the People here on Thursday morning.

      Of the NPC’s 2,963 delegates, 2,956 were present and cast their ballot, with 2,952 voting for Mr. Xi. One vote was recorded against him, and three representatives did not cast their vote.

      Politburo member Li Yuanchao (63) was, as expected, chosen as Vice President, receiving 2,839 votes in his favour and 80 against.

      The NPC’s delegates met here on Friday to formalise Mr. Xi’s appointment, and to also choose a Vice President and the head of the Parliament’s next Standing Committee. The congress will appoint a Premier on Friday, expected to be second-ranked Li Keqiang, and choose new State Councillors – including China’s next top diplomat – and ministers on Saturday.

      Thursday’s selection process, described by Chinese State media as an “election”, was in reality only a formality: as even the State-run Xinhua news agency explained, “each vacancy in the elections will have only one candidate” with the candidates decided well in advance at the party’s internal deliberations. Delegates can vote for or against the listed candidate and also list a candidate of their choosing, although the NPC usually strictly follows the Party lead in selecting representatives.

      Mr. Xi last year was appointed as General Secretary of the CPC and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission – his two most important titles.

      The positions of President or head of the government, and Vice President are largely ceremonial roles usually only invoked when Chinese leaders travel overseas.

      The new Vice President, Li Yuanchao, sits on the 25-member Politburo and is expected to serve only one five-year term as Vice President. He missed out on a position on the CPC’s highest body, the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, last year.

      His appointment will, however, boost his standing, analysts say. Mr. Li, who rose through the Communist Youth League and has close ties with both Mr. Xi and his predecessor Hu Jintao, is seen as among the CPC’s more reform-minded officials. As the head of the party’s

      Organisation Department, which controls personnel appointments, Mr. Li sought to introduce greater intra-party democracy and transparency, although he only met with limited success.

      The NPC’s delegates on Thursday also approved a restructuring plan to reduce the number of Cabinet-level ministries by 2, including dissolving the powerful Ministry of Railways. Officials described the restructuring as a move to make government more efficient and to reduce bureaucracy.

11. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ১২ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১:৪৭ অপরাহ্ণ)

    চীনের সংসদ National People’s Congress(NPC) ছাড়াও আরেকটি সংসদ আছে Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) দুটো সংসদই ছাপ-সর্বস্ব যদিও তারপরও প্রচলিত অর্থে বোঝার সুবিধার্থে প্রথমটিকে নিন্মকক্ষ ও দ্বিতীয়টিকে উচ্চকক্ষ বলা যেতে পারে। প্রথম সংসদটি সুবিখ্যাত পৃথিবীর সবচেয়ে বেশি সদস্যের সংসদ হিসাবে এর সদস্য সংখ্যা ২৯৮৭ এরমধ্যে চীনের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টির সদস্য ২০৯৯ জন এবং চীনের গণতান্ত্রিক দল ও নির্দলদের সমন্বয়ে গঠিত ‘ইউনাইটেড ফ্রন্ট’এর সদস্য সংখ্যা ৮৮৮ জন। দ্বিতীয় সংসদটি সুবিখ্যাত চীনের সবচেয়ে ক্ষমতাবান ও প্রাজ্ঞ রাজনৈতিক উপদেষ্টাদের কক্ষ হিসাবে যেখানে একজন চেয়ারম্যান ও ২৩জন ভাইস চেয়ারম্যানের সমন্বয়ে রাজনৈতিক উপদেষ্টা পরিষদ নির্বাচিত হয় যারা মূলত প্রাক্তন কেন্দ্রীয় ও আঞ্চলিক ডাকসাইটে প্রশাসনিক কর্মকর্তা — চীনের বিভিন্ন মন্ত্রণালয় তাদের সিদ্ধান্ত ও কার্যপ্রণালী এদের সাথে আলোচনা করেন এবং এতে ‘পরামর্শমূলক গণতন্ত্র’ (একবারেই চীনের নিজস্ব, Consultative Democracy) সুদক্ষ হয়ে ওঠে এটাই চীনের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টির দাবি। এই সংসদও চীনের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি এবং চীনের গণতান্ত্রিক দল ও নির্দলদের সমন্বয়ে গঠিত হয়।

    China unveils lineup of top political advisors

    Some well-known names in China’s cabinet, including central banker Zhou Xiaochuan, and senior provincial officials, on Monday entered leadership of the country’s top political advisory body.

    The leaders that comprises a chairman and 23 vice chairpersons were elected by members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

    Yu Zhengsheng, 67, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, was elected chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, replacing Jia Qinglin.

    Having been governor of the People’s Bank of China since 2002, Zhou Xiaochuan is one of the most prominent figures among the newly-elected vice chairpersons.

    The 65-year-old senior banker is sometimes dubbed “China’s Alan Greenspan” for his pivotal role in taking charge of China’s monetary policies for the last decade.

    The new lineup unveiled Monday features both veteran advisors and newcomers, high-profile officials of the State Council and experienced CPC chiefs or regional leaders, as well as senior officials from departments of the CPC Central Committee and leaders of democratic parties.

    With an average age of 63.7 years, the leadership members are younger in average than their predecessors were when they took office five years ago. More than half of them hold master’s degrees and some have doctorates.

    “The new leadership has a wider background of knowledge, better education and more experience in working at various posts,” said Ji Zhengju, an official from the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, a CPC think tank.

    “This will greatly improve expertise of the CPPCC National Committee and quality of its work,” Ji added.

    Du Qinglin, who is ranked first among the vice chairpersons, is a member of the secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.

    The 66-year-old official had worked in Jilin, Hainan and Sichuan provinces before being appointed minister of Agriculture and then head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee.

    Ling Jihua, head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, also became vice chairpersons of the top advisory body.

    Five provincial heads were promoted to the CPPCC National Committee leadership, compared with only one in the previous lineup. They are CPC chiefs Zhang Qingli of Hebei Province, Su Rong of Jiangxi and Lu Zhangong of Henan, as well as Wang Zhengwei, chairman of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Ma Biao, chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

    “A group of provincial heads with rich working experience are joining the ranks of the CPPCC National Committee leadership,” said Prof. Dai Yanjun at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

    “Having worked on leading posts in provinces and autonomous regions for a long time, these officials have wide connections and have developed skills in tackling sophisticated issues,” Ji said. “Their promotions will help boost efficiency and effectiveness of the Chinese mechanism of consultative democracy.”

    “Methodological training and working experience are two sides of a coin, both are inseparable from each other,” said Wang Zhengwei, who is the youngest among the vice chairpersons.

    An ethnic Hui, Wang is an expert on economics and the culture of Hui ethnicity. During his tenure in Ningxia, he visited the least-developed areas and produced a large amount of research.

    Lin Wenyi is one of two female vice chairpersons in the new leadership. She is chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League, one of eight non-communist political parties on the Chinese mainland.

    Lin, 68, a native of Tainan in south Taiwan, earned both undergraduate and doctoral degrees in engineering at Tsinghua University and later became a professor.

    The other female vice chairperson is Li Haifeng, director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council. She has nearly ten years of experience in dealing with affairs concerning overseas Chinese.

    Sixty-year-old Science and Technology Minister Wan Gang was re-elected as vice chairperson. A member of China Zhi Gong Dang, he has been one of the first non-communist ministers since China adopted the policy of reform and opening-up three decades ago.

    Tibetan Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai, 73, is the most experienced top political advisor among the new leadership. He is beginning his eighth term as vice chairperson of the CPPCC National Committee.

    Also re-elected are two former chief executives of the special administrative regions: Tung Chee-hwa from Hong Kong and Edmund Ho Hau Wah from Macao.

    Chen Yuan, chair of the board of directors of the China Development Bank, was elected to the leadership for the first time. He is son to Chen Yun, a CPC revolutionary veteran.

    The lineup also includes leaders of non-communist parties, including Han Qide from the Jiu San Society, Luo Fuhe from the China Association for Promoting Democracy, Qi Xuchun from the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, Chen Xiaoguang from the China Democratic League, Ma Peihua from the China National Democratic Construction Association and Liu Xiaofeng from the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party.

    Wang Qinmin, chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, also joined the top ranks of the CPPCC National Committee.

    • 

      মাসুদ করিম - ১৫ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৩:৪৯ অপরাহ্ণ)

      সিল ছাপ্পড়ে বৈধ হলেন চীনের প্রধানমন্ত্রী বা কেবিনেট প্রধান।

      China appoints Li Keqiang as new premier

      China’s legislature formally chose Li Keqiang as premier on Friday, installing an English-speaking bureaucrat as the man in charge of the economy, the world’s second-largest, and its aim of reviving growth through consumer-led expansion.

      The largely rubber-stamp National People’s Congress, as expected, chose Li, 57, to replace Wen Jiabao.

      Nearly 3,000 delegates gathered in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to vote on Li’s appointment, putting the final stamp of approval on a generational transition of power.

      Li drew only three no votes and six abstentions from the carefully selected parliament.

      Li rose and shook hands with Xi Jinping, who was elected president by the legislature on Thursday, as legislators applauded. A beaming Wen walked over to Li, shook his hand and exchanged words.

      While Xi is the country’s top leader, Li heads China’s State Council, or cabinet, and is charged with executing government policy and overseeing the economy.

      As premier, Li is faced with one of the world’s widest gaps between rich and poor, an economy over-reliant on investment spending and a persistently frothy housing market that has stoked resentment among the middle class.

      “I believe that in this class (of new leaders), his intent to reform is quite strong,” said Chen Ziming, an independent political commentator in Beijing. “He has a close relationship with reform-minded economists. We’ve seen from his speeches after the 18th party congress that the gap between them and him isn’t far.”

      More than any other Chinese party leader until now, Li was immersed in the intellectual and political ferment of the decade of reform under Deng Xiaoping, which ended in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that were crushed by troops.

      As a student at Peking University, Li befriended ardent pro-democracy advocates, some of whom later became outright challengers to party control. His friends included activists who went into exile after the June 1989 crackdown.

      “He has a better understanding of how Westerners think,” a source familiar with China’s foreign policy told Reuters.

      Li, who has a degree in law and a doctorate in economics, will take the reins of an economy whose growth slowed in 2012 to a 13-year low, albeit at a 7.8 percent rate that is the envy of other major economies.

      LOST DECADE

      Analysts have described the Wen years as a lost decade during which economic reforms slowed and state-backed industries tightened their grip on the economy.

      Both Xi and Li will need to deliver a blueprint to stabilize the real estate market. They need to do this quickly to calm a market in which real estate prices have soared 10-fold in major cities during the last decade.

      Across China, people are resentful of the widening income inequality gap. China has 2.7 million U.S. dollar millionaires and 251 billionaires, according to the Hurun Report, but 13 percent of its people live on less than $1.25 per day, according to United Nations data. The average annual urban disposable income is just 21,810 yuan ($3,500).

      Failure to close this gap or deflate a dangerous property bubble could create a backlash that could even break the Communist Party’s grip on power.

      The new administration must also try to turn legions of cheap, assembly-line exporters into world-beating product-makers, while expanding domestic consumption, the economy’s prime focus to ensure growth is more balanced.

      Since he was elevated to the No.2 spot in the ruling party hierarchy last November — a departure from the time of Wen, who was third-ranked — Li has embarked on an urbanisation drive.

      That project aims to bring 400 million people to cities over the next decade with the hope of turning China into a wealthy world power with economic growth generated by an affluent consumer class.

      On the environment, an issue which is causing much anger across the country, Li added his voice to appeals to curb the toxic haze blanketing Beijing in January, but offered few specifics and said there was no quick fix.

      In late November, Li promised to let non-governmental groups play a bigger role in fighting HIV/AIDS. [ID:nL4N0982JV]

      But during his time in central Henan province from 1998 to 2004, Li was criticized by activists for presiding over a crackdown and helping to cover up the extent of an HIV/AIDS crisis there, when hundreds of thousands of impoverished farmers became infected through botched blood-selling schemes.

      One of China’s most prominent dissidents, Hu Jia, told Reuters he was detained in Henan, while Li was governor, for four days in 2002, when Hu was advocating for rural victims of AIDS there.

      “When the AIDS epidemic exploded, everything that Li Keqiang did was with the aim of covering it up,” Hu said. “He didn’t allow the ordinary people to go to Beijing to petition, meet the media, and didn’t allow Aizhixing, the institute I was working at, enter Henan to examine and report on the reality of the AIDS situation.”

      Hu said two state security officers beat and kicked him on Thursday till his head bled. He was summoned by police on a charge of “provoking quarrels and making trouble”.

      The Dongcang police station, where Hu was held, could not be reached for comment.

      On Thursday, China also appointed Zhou Qiang, the former party chief in the southern province of Hunan, as the head of the Supreme People’s Court.

12. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ১৩ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১:১০ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    তিনি মৃত্যুবরণ করেছেন ১২ মার্চ ২০১৩এর সকালে আকস্মিকভাবে, হৃদরোগে আক্রান্ত হয়ে — এক বেসরকারি হাসপাতালে — সেখবর আমি এখন টিভি ছেড়ে স্ক্রলে দেখতে পেলাম। গণেশ পাইন আমাদের সময়ের চিত্রকরদের চিত্রকর, এক মহত্তম শিল্পী, বয়স হয়েছিল ৭৬, কিন্তু তাকে যে বড় অকালে হারালাম, শূন্যতা অপূরণীয়, তা ঠিক, কিন্তু কোনো কোনো সৃষ্টিশীলতার কড়া নাড়া স্তব্ধ হয়ে গেছে শুনলে জীবনটাই যে বিস্বাদ লাগে — গণেশ পাইনের মৃত্যুতে আমার তেমনি অনুভূতি হচ্ছে।

    

    
    উৎসব | ক্যানভাসে টেম্পেরা | ৭১.২x ৮১.৩ সে.মি

    মারা গেলেন গণেশ পাইন
    হৃদরোগে আক্রান্ত হয়ে মারা গেলেন বিখ্যাত শিল্পী গণেশ পাইন। আজ সকালে এক বেসরকারি হাসপাতালে মৃত্যু হয়েছে তাঁর। শিল্প জগতে তাঁর মৃত্যু নিঃসন্দেহে এক ছন্দ পতন। শুধু দেশ নয়, বিদেশেও সমাদৃত হয়েছেন তাঁর গুণের জন্যে। দ্বিমাত্রিক ছবি আঁকাতে অনন্য ছিলেন গণেশ পাইন।

    তাঁর মৃত্যুতে গভীর শোক প্রকাশ করেছে শিল্পী মহল। ইলিনা বনিক বলেছেন যে এক অভিভাবককে হারালেন তিনি। তৈরি হল বড় একটা শূন্যতা।

    ১৯৩৭ সালে কলকাতায় জন্ম গণেশ পাইনের। স্কুল শেষ করার পর গভর্নমেন্ট কলেজ অফ আর্ট অ্যান্ড ক্রাফ্টে ভর্তি হন তিনি। ১৯৫৯ সালে ড্রয়িং ও পেন্টিংয়ে ডিপলোমা নিয়ে পাশ করেন গণেশ পাইন। প্রাগ, প্যারিস, লন্ডন. জার্মানি, সিঙ্গাপুর, ওয়াশিংটন সহ বিদেশের বিভিন্ন প্রান্তেও তাঁর আঁকা ছবির প্রদর্শনী হয়েছে।

    এখানে দেখুন আউটলুক ইন্ডিয়ায় গণেশ পাইনের কিছু চিত্রকর্ম নিয়ে ফটো গ্যালারি : Ganesh Pyne: Selected Works।

    • 

      মাসুদ করিম - ১৩ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৫:৫৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

      রং-তুলি ফেলে মৃত্যুর অন্ধকারে গণেশ পাইন

      শেষ পর্যন্ত হৃদরোগেই স্তব্ধ হল একটি শিল্পিত জীবন৷ ছবির মধ্যে বিচিত্র অন্ধকারে যার সঙ্গে সংলাপ চালিয়েছিলেন তিনি, সেই মৃত্যুই দেখা দিল গণেশ পাইনের শিয়রে৷ কলকাতার একটি বেসরকারি হাসপাতালে, মঙ্গলবার সকালে৷ প্রয়াণের সময় তাঁর বয়স হয়েছিল ছিয়াত্তর৷

      জন্ম কলকাতায় এবং জীবনের মধ্য ভাগ পেরিয়ে কিছু দেশ ভ্রমণ করেছিলেন তিনি৷ তবু গণেশ পাইনের শিল্প-মানস পশ্চিমি শিল্প এবং ভারতীয় শিল্পের সংমিশ্রণে উজ্জ্বল৷ কলকাতার সরকারি আর্ট কলেজে তাঁর শিল্পশিক্ষা৷ মাত্র কুড়ি বছর বয়সেই, ১৯৫৭ সালে অ্যাকাডেমি অফ ফাইন আর্টস-এ সিপাহী বিদ্রোহের শতবর্ষ উপলক্ষে আয়োজিত প্রদর্শনীতে ঠাঁই পায় তাঁর ছবি৷ প্রদর্শনীটির শিরোনাম ছিল ‘কমেমোরেটিভ একজিবিশন ১৯৫৭, ফার্স্ট ইন্ডিয়ান স্ট্রাগল ফর ইনডিপেনডেন্স’৷ পিছন ফিরে তাকালে সহসা প্রতীকী বলে মনে হয় নামটিকে, কারণ গণেশ পাইনের শিল্প-অভিসারও এক ভারতীয়ের স্বকীয়তার সন্ধানে, আত্মপরিচয়ের সন্ধানে যাত্রা৷ সেই যাত্রা বজায় রইল তাঁর জীবনের অন্তিম পর্ব পর্যন্ত৷ শেষ আচ্ছন্নকর প্রদর্শনীর বিষয় ছিল মহাভারত৷ স্মরণে রাখা ভালো, ১৯৫৫-য় রবীন্দ্রনাথের বিপুল প্রদর্শনী দেখছেন তিনি৷ তার কয়েক বছর পরেই মুগ্ধ হচ্ছেন অবনীন্দ্রনাথের এক বিশাল প্রদর্শনী দেখে৷ পাশাপাশি সরকারি আর্ট কলেজে তো বটেই এবং তার পরেও পাশ্চাত্য শিল্পও ছাপ ফেলে যাচ্ছে তাঁর মনে৷ রেমব্রান্ট অথবা পল প্লি যেমন, তেমনই অ্যানিমেশন ছবির নানা চরিত্র টানছে তাঁকে৷ এমন বহুমুখী শিল্পভাষার দেওয়া-নেওয়ায় নির্মিত হচ্ছে তাঁর নিজস্ব ধারা৷ ১৯৬৮-তে নয়াদিল্লির আন্তর্জাতিক ত্রিয়েনাল, সে বছরই প্রাগে বিশ্বযুব উত্সবে যাচ্ছে তাঁর ছবি, ১৯৭০-এ জার্মানি, লন্ডনে রয়্যাল অ্যাকাডেমি অফ আর্টস, প্যারিস দিয়েনালে উপস্থিত গণেশ পাইনের ছবি৷ অর্থাত্‍ , চার দেওয়ালের মধ্যে নানান দৃশ্য জুড়ে যে ছবি, তার নির্ভুল আন্তর্জাতিক ইশারা পৌঁছে যাচ্ছে সারা বিশ্বের শিল্পরসিকদের কাছে৷ আশ্চর্য নয়, সেই সময় মকবুল ফিদা হুসেন তাঁকে (এবং বিকাশ ভট্টাচার্যকে) অন্যতম শ্রেষ্ঠ শিল্পীর শিরোপায় ভূষিত করেছেন৷

      অতঃপর গণেশ পাইনের ছবি এবং খ্যাতি ছড়িয়েছে দিগন্তরে৷ কী ভাবে তাঁর ছবি তৈরি হয়ে ওঠে, সেই অন্তর্মহলটিও কম বিস্ময়কর নয়৷ যে ভাবে তিনি ছবির পরিকল্পনা করেন, রেখায় এবং লেখায়, সেই দিকেও দৃষ্টিপাত করেছেন চিত্রমোদীরা৷ গণেশ পাইনের ‘জটিংস’ নিয়ে একক প্রদর্শনীও হয়েছে৷ দেশ-বিদেশের সংগ্রাহকেরা এসে দাঁড়িয়েছেন তাঁর দুয়ারে৷ গণেশ পাইন তাঁর শিল্পভাষা থেকে চ্যুত হননি কোনওদিনই৷

      ব্যক্তিগত জীবনে তিনি দীর্ঘকাল অবিবাহিত, পরে পরিণয় সূত্রে আবদ্ধ হয়েছেন, স্ত্রী নীরার সঙ্গে এক সময় কবিরাজ রো-র পুরনো বাড়ি ছেড়ে উঠে এসেছেন দক্ষিণ কলকাতার প্রশস্ত অ্যাপার্টমেন্টে৷ এইসব বাঁক বদল কি তাঁর চিত্রভাষাতেও ছাপ ফেলেছিল কোনও? বিশেষজ্ঞেরা সে উত্তর সন্ধান করতেই পারেন, তবে এ কথা নিশ্চিত ভাবেই বলা যায়, কল্পনার উড়াল ছিল তাঁর চিত্রকলার অন্যতম প্রধান চরিত্রলক্ষণ, ঠিক যেমন রহস্যময়তা, জীবনের অন্ত্যভাগ পর্যন্ত৷ একই সঙ্গে এ কথাও স্বীকার করা প্রয়োজন, মনের গহনে তিনি সযত্নে লালন করেছিলেন একটি ভারতীয় সত্তাকে৷ এই সত্তার একদিকে আছে স্বভূমি প্রীতি, অন্য দিকে বিশ্ব-শিল্পের স্পর্শ৷ সাহিত্য পিপাসু ছিলেন, লেখার হাত ছিল চমত্কার৷ তার কিছু কিছু পরিচয় ধরা আছে তাঁর লেখা অজস্র চিঠিতে৷ শিল্পী স্বভাবে অতীব অন্তর্মুখী, কিন্ত্ত নির্বাচিত কিছু বন্ধুজনের সান্নিধ্যে তিনি আন্তরিকতায় উষ্ণ, রসবোধে উজ্জ্বল৷ সরকারি আর্ট কলেজ, অ্যাকাডেমি অফ ফাইন আর্টস কিংবা বিড়লা অ্যাকাডেমির শিরোপা ছাড়াও পেয়েছিলেন কেরল সরকারের ‘রাজা রবিবর্মা সম্মান’, পেয়েছিলেন ইন্ডিয়ান চেম্বার অফ কমার্স-এর ‘লাইফ টাইম সম্মান’– কিন্ত্ত এইসব শিরোপা দিয়ে গণেশ পাইনের অনন্যতার পরিমাপ করা কঠিন৷ রাত্রি এসে যেথায় মেশে দিনের পারাবারে, তেমনই কোনও বিচিত্র মোহানায়, যেখানে মিলেমিশে যায় দর্শন, শিল্প এবং জীবন, সেখানেই নিঃসঙ্গ অভিযাত্রীর মতো এসে দাঁড়ান গণেশ পাইন৷ টেম্পারায় ডোবানো তাঁর তুলিটি নিয়ে৷

      
      পড়তে অসুবিধা হলে দেখুন এখানে।

      
      পড়তে অসুবিধা হলে দেখুন এখানে।

13. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ১৪ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১১:০৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

    জাতিসংঘের সহায়তায় কম্বোডিয়ার যুদ্ধাপরাধী ট্রাইবুনালের অন্যতম আসামি খেমার রুজ (Khmer Rouge) সহ-প্রতিষ্ঠাতা ইয়েং সারি (Ieng Sary) মৃত্যুবরণ করছেন। ২০০৭ সালে তাকে ১৯৭৫-১৯৭৯ সালে সংঘটিত গণহত্যা ও যুদ্ধাপরাধের দায়ে আটক করা হয় এবং ২০১১ সালে তার বিচার শুরু হয় — এবং সেবিচার শেষ না হতেই আজ তিনি মৃত্যুবরণ করেছেন। কেমন মনে হচ্ছে এই ‘আন্তর্জাতিক মান’, যেখানে আটক করার পর বিচার শুরু করতেই চার বছর লাগল, তারপর একবছর পার হয়ে গেলেও রায় পাওয়া গেল না? নাকি এরকম ‘আন্তর্জাতিক মান’-এর জন্যই আমাদের দেশে অনেকে জাতিসংঘের সহায়তায় ট্রাইবুনাল চেয়েছেন?

    Khmer Rouge Founder Ieng Sary Dies

    Ieng Sary, the ailing co-founder of the brutal Khmer Rouge movement standing trial for genocide and war crimes, died on Thursday, a U.N. tribunal hearing the case said, underscoring the need for a speedy hearing of similar charges against two other elderly defendants.

    The 87-year-old foreign minister in the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror from 1975 to 1979 has been hospitalized several times since being detained more than five years ago by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) tasked with seeking justice for crimes committed during that era.

    “Mr. Ieng died at the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital this morning after having been hospitalized since 4 March 2013,” an ECCC statement said.

    It said that he died just before an assessment was to have been made of his fitness to stand trial by local and international medical experts scheduled for later this month.

    A court document issued later said Ieng Sary’s death “terminated all criminal and civil cases” against him but charges against two other senior Khmer Rouge figures Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan will not be affected.

    Ieng Sary was the oldest of the trio on trial, and—along with “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, 86, and former head of state Khieu Samphan, 81—had denied charges leveled against him of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

    Ieng Sary’s wife Ieng Thirith, the regime’s former social affairs minister, was last year deemed unfit for trial after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

    Loss of a witness

    Ieng Sary’s death “represents a loss of a witness of the Khmer Rouge regime who was personally involved in the crimes and atrocities committed during the Democratic Kampuchea era between 1975 and 1979 as described in the Closing Order of the tribunal’s Co-Investigating Judges,” said a coalition of Cambodian rights groups.

    “The loss will not only impact on the Khmer Rouge historical record, it will also have a negative impact on the efforts to seek justice and closure for many civil parties, victims and ordinary Cambodians who have been personally participating in the ECCC process in their demand for justice against the accused,” said the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), a coalition of 21 members of non-governmental groups.

    The trial was temporarily halted due to health concerns of each of the accused from time to time, and more recently a funding shortage issue which then also led to strike actions by many national staff of the ECCC.

    CHRAC called on the ECCC and its stakeholders, particularly the Cambodian government and the United Nations, to “fulfill their obligation immediately and the effort and mission to seek justice should not fail due to the unnecessary political, financial and procedural obstacles.”

    Otherwise, they could see the death of the other elderly accused in the middle of the proceedings, the statement said.

    Led by the notorious Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge killed an estimated 2 million Cambodians through starvation, overwork or execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia.

    The ECCC has so far completed just one case, sentencing former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, to life in jail for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people.

    
    Hospital workers in Phnom Penh load the body of Ieng Sary into an ambulance for transport back to his home in Banteay Meanchey province, March 14, 2013.

14. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ১৫ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৫:৫৯ অপরাহ্ণ)

    শেষ পর্যন্ত নেপালের সাধারণ নির্বাচনের জন্য বিদায়ী প্রধানমন্ত্রী বাবুরাম ভট্টরাইয়ের উদ্যোগে দেশের প্রধান চার রাজনৈতিক দলের সম্মতিতে প্রধান বিচারপতি খিল রাজ রেগমিকে প্রধান করে অন্তর্বর্তী সরকার গঠিত হয়েছে। এই সরকারের অধীনেই আগামী ২১ জুন ২০১৩তে সাধারণ নির্বাচন অনুষ্ঠিত হবে। সাংবিধানিকভাবে এই এগারো সদস্য বিশিষ্ট এই সরকারের নাম হবে ‘অন্তর্বর্তী নির্বাচন কাউন্সিল’ ( Interim Election Council)। গভীর মনোযোগের সাথে আমাদের এই বিষয়টি পুঙ্খানুপুঙ্খ পড়া উচিত, আমাদের দেশের সাধারণ নির্বাচন সংকটে এরকম কোনো সাংবিধানিক সমাধানে আমরা আসতে পারি কিনা, সেসাথে নিবিড় মনোযোগের সাথে এই কাউন্সিলের এখন থেকে নির্বাচন পর্যন্ত প্রতিটি পদক্ষেপ আমাদের খেয়াল রাখা উচিত।

    Regmi sworn in as new executive head

    Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi took the oath of office and secrecy as the new head of the executive today, a day after the four major political forces and the outgoing Baburam Bhattarai-led government recommended President Ram Baran Yadav to appoint him as the head of election government.

    Regmi was sworn in as Chairperson of the Interim Election Government by the President at Shital Niwas in a function attended by political leaders, chiefs of constitutional bodies, chiefs of security agencies, high-ranking government officials and diplomatic corps.

    Regmi appointed former chief secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire and former Law Secretary Hari Prasad Neupane as ministers in his Cabinet. The new head of executive sworn in both the ministers in front of the President at Shital Niwas. Ghimire has been assigned home and foreign affairs portfolios and Neupane will handle the portfolios of law, justice, constituent assembly, parliamentary affairs, labour and employment.

    Assuming the office today, the newly appointed head of the executive said his government’s top priority was to hold elections on time. He urged all parties and stakeholders to cooperate in holding fresh elections.

    Later today, the new Cabinet held its first meeting at Singha Durbar and thanked the political parties for assigning them important responsibility of holding fresh Constituent Assembly elections. Stating that elections alone can end the political stalemate, the Cabinet appealed all to take part in the elections. The Cabinet’s appeal was aimed at winning support of the fringe parties who have been protesting against the chief justice-led government.

    The Cabinet has stated that it was committed to holding free and fair elections, maintaining the rule of law, respecting the principle of separation of powers and respecting human rights by embracing checks and balances.

    It also directed the government functionaries not to grant economic assistance, donations and awards to anyone without following agreed economic assistance guidelines. The new Cabinet has tasked a group of government secretaries to ensure smooth supply of petroleum products.

    President’s order

    • The new order issued by the President has amended Article 158 of the Interim Constitution whereby new amendments made in the constitution should be endorsed by new Constituent Assembly within a month of the first meeting of the CA.

    • The order issued by the President also states that a suitable arrangement (formation of a new government) would be done as per political consensus if the post of the Chairman of Interim Election Government falls vacant or if the elections cannot be held on the declared date for any reasons or due to unforeseen circumstances. The order also states that once the new provisions incorporated after invoking Article 158 are implemented, the new provisions would automatically be ineffective after the first implementation of the provisions.

    ICJ asks him to step down as chief justice

    KATHMANDU: The International Commission of Jurists today urged newly appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi to step down as chief justice to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

    ‘The Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi, has demonstrated a strong commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting human rights in Nepal,” said Ben Schonveld, ICJ’s South Asia Director in Kathmandu. ‘To preserve the Nepali judiciary’s hard-won independence, the chief justice should step down from his post as soon as he assumes his position at the top of the executive branch.”

    ICJ’s request came just a few hours after Regmi assumed chief executive’s post following the presidential order to clear hurdles to appoint him to the post.

    “Appointing the serving chief justice to act as Chairperson of the Council of Ministers throws the country into uncharted constitutional waters,” said Schonveld, adding, “This agreement obliterates the line between the executive and the judiciary.”

    According to it, the interim Constitution guarantees the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers and added that Article 106 bans sitting and retired judges from assuming any appointment in government service apart from a role in the national human rights commission.

    “To enable the chief justice’s appointment as prime minister, the President on the recommendation of the Council of the Ministers amended several provisions of the Interim Constitution, including Article 106. These amendments were made in contravention of the requirements of the Interim Constitution, which calls for a mandatory two-thirds majority of Parliament,” it added.

    The world jurists’ body also added that the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers emphasise the need for all states to ensure the independence of the judiciary at all times. “Judges must be free, and be seen to be free, from inappropriate connections with the executive and legislative branches of government,” the ICJ added.

    Midnight deal on CJ-led govt saves the day

    • Regmi to lead an 11-member interim election council • Appointment today • Poll by June 21

    Four major political forces today put an end to long-drawn speculations‚ as they signed an 11-point political agreement on removing constitutional difficulties and forming an election government‚ raising hopes of an election as early as third week of June.

    Top leaders of four forces — the Unified CPN-Maoist‚ Nepali Congress‚ CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front — today finalised that the new government will be formed under Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi‚ to be called an interim election council‚ that Regmi will lead the council as the chairman and that it will have 11 members‚ chosen by the chairman of the council on the basis of inclusiveness.

    The top leaders finally managed to accomplish an exacting task of clinching the deal to this effect at around 11:00pm after 14 hours of negotiations today and days of rigorous‚ tense‚ and at times heated discussions‚ as issues kept on frustrating their efforts.

    The major forces have finally ironed out differences on issues of citizenship and voters’ list — two most thorny issues that prickled them the most.

    The parties agreed to recommend President Ram Baran Yadav to invoke Article 158 and appoint CJ Regmi as the chairman of the election council. Though the parties have agreed that the CJ-led interim election council will hold the election within June 21‚ they have caveated it saying that in the event of failure to hold the polls on said date‚ a high level political committee will take a decision regarding the new date‚ at the next earliest possible date but no later than November‚ on the basis of political understanding and that the committee will advise the council to that effect accordingly.

    On the issue of citizenship‚ major forces have agreed that those who are born to the parents who have acquired citizenship by birth will be given citizenship on the basis of descent‚ and on voters’ list‚ parties have agreed to include those as voters who were listed during the 2008 elections and those who are in the updated list of the Election Commission. For others‚ Section 11 of Voters’ List Act 2063 will be applicable‚ which means those who are yet to acquire their citizenship will have to produce any other proof of being a Nepali citizen for their right to vote. “As the Supreme Court has already removed the provision‚ it will be activated through invoking Article 158‚” said NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi. In relation to filling vacancies at the Supreme Court‚ the parties have agreed to formulate required constitutional provisions as soon as possible. After the chief justice’s appointment as the chairman of the election council‚ an officiating chief justice will take over his duties. For appointments at constitutional bodies‚ parties have said they would do so as per an agreement of the high level political committee‚ which will comprise representatives from the major political parties.

    The parties have also agreed to elect a 491-member constituent assembly‚ in line with the spirit of inclusiveness‚ in which 240 members will be chosen through first past the post system and 240 through proportional representation system. Eleven members will be nominated by the election council on the basis of political agreement.

    The new constituent assembly will double as Parliament as long as the work of drafting a new constitution continues‚ and following the promulgation of the constitution‚ it will function as per the spirit of the new constitution.

    The parties have also agreed to take the ownership of all the achievements made by the dissolved constituent assembly.

    NowI am a free citizen.Thank you everybodywhohave stood with me during the last 18 months &18 days.

    — Baburam Bhattarai (@brb_laaldhwoj) March 14, 2013

15. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ১৬ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১০:১৯ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    চট্টগ্রাম আরো অন্ধকার হল, জীবনাবসান হল জামাল নজরুল ইসলামের — কাজের ক্ষেত্রে ছিলেন দিকপাল গণিতজ্ঞ ও বিজ্ঞানী কিন্তু অকাজের আকর্ষণে ছিলেন নাগরিক জীবনের সাংস্কৃতিক বিশ্বাসে জারিত ব্যক্তিত্ব — পরিশীলিত পদচারণা ও অসাধারণ কবিতা আবৃত্তির জন্য যাকে আমার সারাজীবন মনে থাকবে।

    
    জামাল নজরুল ইসলাম | ২৪ জানুয়ারি ১৯৩৯ – ১৬ মার্চ ২০১৩

    অধ্যাপক জামাল নজরুল ইসলাম আর নেই

    গণিত ও পদার্থবিজ্ঞানী, জোতির্বিদ অধ্যাপক জামাল নজরুল ইসলাম আর নেই।

    শুক্রবার রাতে চট্টগ্রাম নগরীর একটি বেসরকারি হাসপাতালে জীবনাবসান ঘটেছে চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের এই অধ্যাপক এমিরেটাসের। তার বয়স হয়েছিল ৭৪ বছর।

    চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ভৌতবিজ্ঞান ও গবেষণা কেন্দ্রের পরিচালক ড. আবুল মনসুর চৌধুরী বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে বলেন, অধ্যাপক নজরুল ডায়াবেটিসে ভুগছিলেন, এছাড়া হৃদরোগও ছিল।

    অধ্যাপক জামাল নজরুলের জন্ম ১৯৩৯ সালের ২৪ জানুয়ারি। তিনি স্ত্রী ও দুই মেয়ে রেখে গেছেন।

    ড. আবুল মনসুর জানান, রোববার জমিয়াতুল ফালাহ মসজিদে জানাজার পর গরিবুল্লাহ শাহ মাজার কবরস্থানে প্রয়াত বিজ্ঞানীকে সমাহিত করা হবে।

    অধ্যাপক জামাল নজরুল মহাবিশ্বের উদ্ভব ও পরিণতি বিষয়ে মৌলিক গবেষণার জন্য বিশেষভাবে খ্যাত।

    তিনি চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ভৌতবিজ্ঞান ও গবেষণা কেন্দ্রে গবেষণা করতেন। চট্টগ্রাম প্রকৌশল ও প্রযুক্তি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের সিন্ডিকেট সদস্য ছিলেন তিনি।

    মাতৃভাষায় বিজ্ঞান চর্চায় অবদানের জন্য ২০০১ সালে একুশে পদকে সম্মানীত করা হয় অধ্যাপক জামাল নজরুলকে। ১৯৮৫ সালে বাংলাদেশ বিজ্ঞান একাডেমি স্বর্ণপদক পান তিনি।

    ১৯৯৮ সালে ইতালির আব্দুস সালাম সেন্টার ফর থিওরটিক্যাল ফিজিক্সে থার্ড ওয়ার্ল্ড একাডেমি অফ সায়েন্স অনুষ্ঠানে তাকে মেডাল লেকচার পদক দেয়া হয়। ২০১১ সালে তিনি ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের রাজ্জাক-শামসুন আজীবন সম্মাননা পান।

    জামাল নজরুলের জন্ম ঝিনাইদহ শহরে। তার বাবা তখন ওই জেলায় মুন্সেফ ছিলেন। পরে পরিবারের সঙ্গে কলকাতায় বেড়ে ওঠেন তিনি।

    স্কুলজীবনের শুরু কলকাতায় হলেও পরে চট্টগ্রামে ফিরে আসেন তিনি, ভর্তি হন কলেজিয়েট স্কুলে। এরপর পাড়ি দেন তৎকালীন পশ্চিম পাকিস্তানে। পরে আবার কলকাতায় ফিরে ভর্তি হন সেইন্ট জেভিয়ার্স কলেজে।

    কলকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় থেকে গণিতে বিএসসি ডিগ্রি নেয়ার পর জামাল নজরুল পড়তে যান কেমব্রিজে। সেখানে প্রায়োগিক গণিত ও তাত্ত্বিক পদার্থ বিজ্ঞানে স্নাতক ও স্নাতকোত্তর ডিগ্রি নেন। ১৯৬৪ সালে ওই বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় থেকে পদার্থ বিজ্ঞানে পিএইচডি ডিগ্রি নেন তিনি। ১৯৮২ সালে পান ডক্টর অফ সায়েন্স ডিগ্রি।

    তিনি ১৯৬৭ থেকে ১৯৭১ সাল পর্যন্ত কেমব্রিজের ইনস্টিটিউট অফ থিওরেটিক্যাল অ্যাস্ট্রোনমিতে কাজ করেন। এরপর ক্যালিফোর্নিয়া ইনস্টিটিউট অফ টেকনোলজি এবং ওয়াশিংটন বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে গবেষণার পর ১৯৭৩ থেকে ১৯৭৪ সাল পর্যন্ত তিনি লন্ডনের কিংস কলেজে ফলিত গণিত পড়িয়েছেন।

    ১৯৭৮ সালে তিনি লন্ডনের সিটি ইউনিভার্সিটিতে শিক্ষক হিসেবে যোগ দেন এবং ১৯৮৪ সাল পর্যন্ত সেখানে ছিলেন তিনি।

    ১৯৮৪ সালে দেশে ফিরে চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে যোগ দেন অধ্যাপক নজরুল, পরে এখান থেকেই অবসরে যান তিনি।

    স্কুলজীবনেই গণিতের প্রতি তার অনুরাগ জন্মে। ক্যালকুলেটর ব্যবহারে অনীহ জামাল নজরুল গণিতের জটিল হিসাব মুখেমুখে করতেই স্বচ্ছন্দ বোধ করতেন।

    অধ্যাপনার পাশাপাশি সাংস্কৃতিক আন্দোলনের সংগঠকদেরও প্রেরণা যোগাতেন জামাল নজরুল। দেশের উন্নয়ন নিয়েও ভাবনা ছিল তার। ১৯৭১ সালে মুক্তিযুদ্ধের সময় যুক্তরাজ্যের প্রধানমন্ত্রীর কাছে চিঠি লিখে বাংলাদেশে পাকিস্তানি বাহিনীর আক্রমণ বন্ধের উদ্যোগ নিতে বলেছিলেন তিনি।

    মাতৃভাষায় বিজ্ঞান চর্চায় উৎসাহিত করতে বাংলায় বেশ কয়েকটি বই লিখেছেন তিনি।

    এই প্রসঙ্গে বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমে এক কলামে তিনি লিখেছেন- “অনেকের ধারণা, ভাল ইংরেজি না জানলে বিজ্ঞানচর্চা করা যাবে না। এটি ভুল ধারণা। মাতৃভাষায়ও ভাল বিজ্ঞান চর্চা ও উচ্চতর গবেষণা হতে পারে।”

    তার প্রকাশিত গ্রন্থের মধ্যে রয়েছে ‘কৃষ্ণ বিবর’, ‘মাতৃভাষা ও বিজ্ঞান চর্চা এবং অন্যান্য প্রবন্ধ’, ‘শিল্প সাহিত্য ও সমাজ’ ।

    তার দি আল্টিমেট ফেইট অফ দি ইউনিভার্স ১৯৮৩ সালে প্রকাশের পর বিজ্ঞানী মহলে বিশেষ সাড়া ফেলে। জাপানি, ফরাসি, পর্তুগিজ ও যুগোশ্লাভ ভাষায় তা অনুদিত হয়।

    ক্লাসিক্যাল জেনারেল রিলেটিভিটি, রোটেটিং ফিল্ড্‌স ইন জেনারেল রিলেটিভিটি, অ্যান ইন্ট্রোডাকশন টু ম্যাথমেটিক্যাল কসমোলজি, স্কাই অ্যান্ড টেলিস্কোপ তার লেখা ও সম্পাদিত গ্রন্থের মধ্যে উল্লেখযোগ্য।

    • 

      মাসুদ করিম - ২০ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৭:২৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

      জামাল নজরুল ইসলামকে নিয়ে লিখেছেন আরশাদ মোমেন।

      বছর কয়েক পরে যখন আমি যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে গ্রাজুয়েট স্কুলে ছাত্র হিসেবে যোগদান করলাম তখন আমার রিলেটিভিটি কোর্সের শিক্ষক রাফায়েল সর্কিন (বর্তমানে ক্যানাডার পেরিমিটার ইনস্টিটিউটে কর্মরত) জানতে পারলেন যে আমি বাংলাদেশ থেকে আগত ছাত্র। তিনি আমাকে প্রথমেই জিজ্ঞাসা করলেন যে আমি কখনো জামাল নজরুল ইসলামের নাম শুনেছি কিনা। আমার বিশদ উত্তর শুনে রাফায়েল যাতে সবচেয়ে বিস্মিত হলেন তা হলো জামাল নজরুল ইসলামের মতো সুনাম ও খ্যাতিসম্পন্ন লোক কেন বাংলাদেশে ফেরৎ গেলেন? পরে আমি জানতে পেরেছিলাম যে রাফায়েল সর্কিন ও জামাল নজরুল ইসলাম দু’জনই সত্তুরের দশকে কার্ডিফ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে একত্রে কর্মরত ছিলেন এবং সেই সুবাদে তাদের মাঝে বন্ধুত্ব। আর এরপর থেকে ঢাকায় গ্রীষ্মের ছুটি কাটিয়ে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে ফেরৎ গেলেই রাফায়েল বরাবরই জামাল স্যারের কথা জিজ্ঞেস করতেন। কিন্তু দুঃখের ব্যাপার জামাল স্যার ও কম্পিউটারের মাঝে একধরণের বিকর্ষণ প্রক্রিয়া কাজ করতো। তাই, ইন্টারনেটের মাধ্যমে রাফায়েল বা অন্যান্য বন্ধুদের সাথে সহজে যোগাযোগ করার পরিবর্তে বরাবরই জামাল স্যার তার প্রিয় ছোট্ট টাইপরাইটারের উপর নিয়মিতভাবেই নির্ভরশীল ছিলেন। চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে তার গবেষণা কেন্দ্রে যাওয়া যতগুলো নিমন্ত্রণপত্র পেয়েছি , বলার অপেক্ষা রাখেনা যে তা স্যারের টাইপরাইটার ব্যবহার করেই লেখা।

      ইন্টারনেটের মতোই স্যারের মোবাইলের ব্যাপারে যে অসহিষ্ণু ছিলেন তার প্রমাণ পেয়েছিলাম গত বছরের চট্টগ্রামে বিভাগীয় পদার্থবিজ্ঞান অলিম্পিয়েডে। জামাল স্যার ছিলেন অনুষ্ঠানের প্রধান অতিথি। পুরস্কার বিতরণী পর্বটি ছিলো শুক্রবারে জুমার নামাজের পরপরই । কিন্তু নানাবিধ কারণে এবং পূর্বের অনেক বক্তারা থাকায় অনুষ্ঠানটি বিকেল পর্যন্ত গড়িয়ে যায়।

      অলিম্পিয়াডের প্রতিযোগিরা সারাদিন ধরে মিলনায়তনে অবস্থান করে ক্লান্ত থাকলেও জামাল স্যারের সুদীর্ঘ বক্তৃতা না শুনে কেউই বেরিয়ে যায়নি। দেশের তরুণদের বিজ্ঞানে আকৃষ্ট করার তার একটি স্বপ্ন ছিলো এবং তার ধারণা ছিল বর্তমান তরুণ প্রজন্ম কেবল টেলিভিশন, মোবাইল ফোন ইত্যাদির দিকে বেশী নজর দেয় এবং এ কারণে তারা লক্ষ্যভ্রষ্ট হচ্ছে ।

      ঐদিনের প্রধান অতিথির ভাষণের এক পর্যায়েতো তিনি একবার বলেই ফেললেন – “তোমাদের মোবাইলগুলো পুকুরে ফেলে দাও”। তিনি নিজে যে ক্যালকুলেটর আর মোবাইল ফোন ব্যবহার করতে পছন্দ করতেন না সে ব্যাপারটা ছিল সর্বজনবিদিত।

      নিজে জটিল গণিত নিয়ে কাজ করলেও স্টিং তত্ত্বের মতো উচ্চাভিলাসী তত্ত্ব তার অপছন্দ ছিলো। বরাবরই তার বক্তব্য ছিলো – যেখানে আমাদের পরিচিত গন্ডিকেই আমরা ভালোভাবে রপ্ত করতে পারিনি সেখানে অপরিচিত ও অপরীক্ষিত জগতে পা বাড়ানো হবে অবিবেচকের কাজ। ২০১১ সালে বাংলাদেশ ফিজিক্যাল সোসাইটির সম্মেলনে আমি আমার বক্তৃতায় গ্লাসহাও-সালাম-ভাইনবার্গ তত্ত্বের গন্ডির ভেতরেই নতুন ধরণের ঘটনা সংঘটনের সম্ভাবনা আলোচনা করেছিলাম। স্ট্রিং-তত্ত্ব ছাড়াও যে তাত্ত্বিক পদার্থবিজ্ঞানে নতুন ধারণার কিছু করা সম্ভব সেটা তাকে দেখাতে পেরে আমারও ভালো লেগেছিলো। যদিও তার খ্যাতি ছিল মূলত তার মহাবিশ্বের অন্তিম পরিণতি সম্পর্কে গবেষনার জন্য ( যার সম্পর্কে বিজ্ঞানী ফ্রিম্যান ডাইসন তার বইগুলোতে সে সম্পর্কে লিখেছেন ) – বহু সুযোগ থাকা সত্ত্বেও আমি কখনই জামাল স্যারের সাথে এ ব্যাপারে আলাদা করে আলোচনা করার সুযোগ পাইনি – এটাও আমার জীবনের একটা বড় খেদ হিসেবে রয়ে যাবে।

      একবার এক জনপ্রিয় বিজ্ঞান বক্তৃতা দেয়ার সময় মিলনায়তনে বিদ্যুৎ চলে গেলে স্যার ঐ ঘুটঘুটে অন্ধকারের মধ্যেই পুরো এক ঘন্টাই বক্তৃতা চালিয়ে গেলেন। স্যারের যে রবীন্দ্রনাথের কত কবিতা ঠোঁটস্থ ছিলো তার একটা প্রমাণ আমি সেদিন হাতেনাতে পেয়েছিলাম।

      তার বিশেষ পছন্দ ছিলো তাত্ত্বিক পদার্থবিজ্ঞানের চারটি কঠিন সমস্যা যার সম্পর্কে তিনি দেশে বিদেশের নানা বিজ্ঞান সম্মেলনে বক্তব্য দিয়েছেন। তার জীবনের সুদীর্ঘ চল্লিশটি বৎসর তিনি এই সমস্যাগুলো নিয়ে কাজ করেছেন। সমস্যাগুলো পদার্থবিজ্ঞানের বিশাল গন্ডীর মাঝেই ভিন্ন ভিন্ন দিকে বিস্তৃত হলেও একমাত্র জামাল নজরুল ইসলামের মতো ব্যক্তির পক্ষেই এই ভিন্ন ক্ষেত্রগুলোতে সাবলীলভাবে বিচরণ করা সম্ভব ছিলো। তিনি বরাবরই চাইতেন নতুনরা পেছনে ফেলে আসা এই চারটি সমাধান না হওয়া প্রশ্নগুলো নিয়ে নাড়া-চাড়া করুক। এর মধ্যে একটি সমস্যা ছিলো – মাধ্যাকর্ষণের জন্য উৎসহীন আইস্টাইনের সমীকরণের জন্য সার্বজনীন সমাধান বের করা। আমরা যেখানে দু-তিন পাতার চেয়ে বেশী লম্বা তাত্ত্বিক পদার্থবিজ্ঞানের হিসাব করতে গেলেই কম্পিউটারের শরনাপন্ন হই সেখানে জামাল স্যার তার এক বক্তৃতায় শুধু একটি সমীকরণই দেখিয়েছিলেন যা ছিলো দশ পৃষ্ঠা লম্বা ! দিব্যদৃষ্টি ছাড়া এরকম লম্বা সমীকরণ সমাধান করা একেবারেই অসম্ভব। কম্পিউটার শুধুমাত্র সেই সমস্যাগুলো সমাধান করতে পারে যেগুলোকে একটা গৎবাধা নিয়মের অধীনে ফেলা যায়। এই দিব্যদৃষ্টি শুধুমাত্র কাগজ ও কলমের সুচিন্তিত ব্যবহারের মাধ্যমেই অর্জন করা সম্ভব। একারণেই বোধহয় জামাল স্যার বরাবরই কম্পিউটার ব্যবহার করতে নিরুৎসাহিত ছিলেন।

      বিদেশ থেকে দেশে ছুটিতে এসে যারাই জামাল স্যারের সাথে দেখা করেছেন তিনি তাদের সবাইকেই টানা পোস্ট-ডক্টরাল ফেলোশিপ না করে দেশে ফিরতে বলতেন। তার পর্যায়ের খ্যাতিসম্পন্ন লোক যদি বিদেশী নিশ্চিন্ত জীবনের লোভ আর মোহ ত্যাগ করে নিজেকে দেশের সেবায় নিয়োজিত করতে পারেন তবে আমাদের মতো সাধারণ ব্যক্তিরা কেন ব্যক্তিগত লাভের উর্ধ্বে উঠে দেশের জন্য সময় ব্যয় করতে পারবো না? জামাল স্যারের মতো নিবেদিত ও নির্মোহ বিজ্ঞান-সাধক আরো কেন আমরা সমাজে পাচ্ছি না তা জাতি হিসেবে আমাদের ভেবে দেখা অত্যন্ত প্রয়োজন।

      তার মাপের বিশুদ্ধ তাত্ত্বিক পদার্থবিজ্ঞানী আমরা বাংলাদেশে আমাদের মাঝে পুনরায় কবে পাবো তা অবশ্যই একটা গবেষণার বিষয় হতে পারে। তাই সবশেষে প্রস্তাব করছি – জামাল স্যারের নিজ হাতে গড়া প্রতিষ্ঠানটির নাম তার স্মৃতিতে পরিবর্তন করে “জামাল নজরুল ইসলাম রিসার্চ সেন্টার ফর ম্যাথেমেটিক্যাল এন্ড ফিজিক্যাল সায়েন্সেস” রাখা হোক। মৃত্যুর পরে অন্তত এই ন্যূনতম সম্মানটুকু তাকে চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় তাকে দিতে আশা করি পিছপা হবে না।

      বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : জামাল স্যারকে নিয়ে কয়েক টুকরো স্মৃতি।

16. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ১৯ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১০:৪৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    চীন এখন পৃথিবীর পঞ্চম বৃহত্তম অস্ত্র রপ্তানিকারক দেশ, ঠাণ্ডা যুদ্ধের পর এই প্রথম চীন এই স্থান অধিকার করল, অস্ত্র রপ্তানিতে ব্রিটেনকে পেছনে ফেলে এই অবস্থানে উঠে এসেছে চীন, এবং তার সামনে থাকা ফ্রান্স ও জার্মানির ঘাড়ে নিঃশ্বাস ফেলছে — যে হারে চীনের অস্ত্র রপ্তানি বাড়ছে তাতে আগামী কয়েক বছরেই চীন পৃথিবীর তৃতীয় বৃহত্তম অস্ত্র রপ্তানিকারক দেশ হয়ে উঠবে বলেই মনে হচ্ছে।

    China Replaces UK as Fifth Global Arms Exporter – SIPRI

    China has become the world’s fifth largest exporter of major conventional arms, replacing the United Kingdom, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report Monday.

    The report, which contains new data on international arms transfers, says this is the first time China has been one of the top five weapons exporters since the end of the cold war.

    Overall, international transfers of major conventional arms grew by 17 percent between 2003-2007 and 2008-2012.

    According to SIPRI, the five largest suppliers of major conventional weapons in 2008-2012 were the United States, which accounted for 30 percent of global arms exports, Russia (26 percent), Germany (7 percent), France (6 percent) and China (5 percent).

    The United Kingdom has for the first time been excluded from the top five since at least 1950.

    “China’s displacement of the UK is the first change in the composition of the top five exporters in 20 years,” the report says.

    SIPRI noted that Chinese exports of major conventional weapons increased 162 percent between 2003-2007 and 2008-2012, and the country’s share of international arms exports grew from two to five percent.

    Dr. Paul Holtom, director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Program, said China’s rise was primarily driven by “large-scale arms acquisitions by Pakistan.” He added that some “recent deals indicate that China is establishing itself as a significant arms supplier to a growing number of important recipient states.”

    SIPRI was founded in 1966. It is an independent analytical center conducting research into conflicts, armaments and arms control.

17. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ১৯ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৩:০০ অপরাহ্ণ)

    সিরিয়ার রাজনৈতিক বিরোধী শক্তি ‘সিরিয়ার জাতীয় মোর্চা’ (Syrian National Coalition) গতকাল তুরস্কের ইস্তান্বুলে তাদের অন্তর্বর্তীকালীন প্রধানমন্ত্রী বাছাই করেছে। ১২ জন প্রার্থীর মধ্যে আমেরিকা প্রবাসী এবং পেশায় তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি কর্মকর্তা ঘাসান হিত্তোকে (Ghassan Hitto) প্রধানমন্ত্রী হিসাবে বেছে নেয়া হয়েছে। এরপর প্রধানমন্ত্রী নিশ্চয়ই তার মন্ত্রিপরিষদ গঠন করবেন, কিন্তু প্রশ্ন হল ওই সরকার কোথায় অবস্থান করবে? তারা কি তুরস্কে অবস্থান করবে? সিরিয়ার বিদ্রোহী ফ্রি সিরিয়ান আর্মি (Free Syrian Army) চায় তারা সিরিয়ায় যে মুক্তাঞ্চল গড়ে তুলেছে তার কোথাও গিয়ে ‘সিরিয়ার জাতীয় মোর্চা’ সরকার গিয়ে অবস্থান করুক, কিন্তু এবিষয়ে কোনো সর্বসম্মত সিদ্ধান্ত এখনো গৃহীত হয়নি — এবং যতদিন কোনো সিদ্ধান্ত গৃহীত হয় ততদিন মনে হচ্ছে এই সরকার তুরস্কে বা অন্য কোনো প্রতিবেশী মিত্র দেশে অবস্থান করবে।

    

    Syria opposition elects prime minister

    Syrian opposition group the Syrian National Coalition has chosen an interim prime minister yesterday, after an hours-long meeting in Istanbul.

    Ghassan Hitto has been elected as the interim prime minister of the Syrian National Coalition, officials told the Hürriyet Daily News in a phone interview.

    Hitto, who has lived in the U.S. state of Dallas for decades where he has worked as an IT executive, was chosen as prime minister from 12 candidates.

    The group agrees that the prime minister and his government must be based inside Syria, spokesman Khalid Saleh told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse.

18. 

    ইমতিয়ার - ১৯ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৩:৫৮ অপরাহ্ণ)

    এ ভারি তাজ্জব ব্যাপার যে, চমস্কির মতো মানুষের দিনের সাত ঘন্টাই কাটে ই-মেইলের উত্তর দিতে গিয়ে! যাকে আমরা বৈঠকি বলি, ই-মেইল বোধকরি সেরকমই একটা কিছু তার কাছে!

    Lunch with the FT: Noam Chomsky

    By John McDermott

    The linguistics professor is seen by some as a truth-teller, by others as an anti-US crank. He talks to John McDermott about the link between activism and academia

    There is a time capsule near the lifts of the Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It contains items from Building 20, home to fundamental wartime advances in physics, and where, in 1955, a 27-year-old began to transform humanity’s understanding of language. The original ramshackle facility is no more. But the linguist is still here, strolling past in a mustard-coloured puffer jacket.

    “Professor Chomsky,” I call out. The 84-year-old greets me and we walk through the new Frank Gehry-designed building, all airy and angular. Students smile and wave and give up more space than Chomsky’s steady gait requires. MIT is in part a monument to his ideas, I suggest. His theories of grammar, which argue that language is innate, have revolutionised modern psychology, computing and cognitive science.

    “One of the things about this field is that there’s not a lot you can do with it,” he deadpans, as we pass sleep-deprived coders. (Another example of Chomsky humour: he calls his assistant’s dog, “Cat”.) We step out into the bitter Cambridge day, towards the restaurant. He once came close to joining UC Berkeley, he admits, but California is too hot for him. “I like the cold weather. It means you get work done.”

    I tell him I felt the same way when I studied at Harvard. “[Its] faculty doesn’t like me much,” he says. This is not true of the staff of Chomsky’s chosen lunch spot. The Black Sheep welcomes him like the regular he is. A chipper waiter shows us to a table in the corner of the cosy bistro. Perhaps the restaurant’s name is apt, I say. “Not at MIT [but] I don’t have much contact with the main academic world.”

    However, Chomsky’s distance from the mainstream is not down to his academic work. Referring to him as a linguist is a bit like calling Arnold Schwarz­enegger a bodybuilder. Chomsky is arguably the world’s most prominent political activist. To his opponents, he is a crank who sees evil as made in America. To his supporters, he is a brave truth-teller and unrelenting huma­nist; a latter-day Bertrand Russell.

    I am about to ask the professor about Hugo Chávez, who died the night before our lunch, but a waitress arrives and asks for our order. Chomsky chooses the clam chowder, and a salad with pecans, blue cheese, apples and a lot of adjectives. I go for tomato soup and a salmon salad. The professor asks for a cup of coffee and since we are about to discuss the late Venezuelan leader, I ask for a cup, too.

    In 2006, Chávez recommended Chomsky’s Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance to the UN General Assembly. “It’s a mixed story,” Chomsky says of Chávez’s legacy. He points to reduced poverty and increased literacy. “On the other hand there are plenty of problems,” such as violence and police corruption; he also mentions western hostility – in particular an attempted coup in 2002 supported by the US. America’s behaviour towards Caracas is obviously important in any assessment of Chávez but its appearance is an early signifier of a pattern in a Chomsky conversation: talk for long enough about politics with the professor and the probability of US foreign policy or National Socialism being mentioned approaches one.

    I say that he hasn’t referred to Chávez’s human rights record. Some of Chomsky’s critics have accused him of going easy on the faults of autocrats so long as they are enemies of the US. Chomsky denies this vehemently: he spoke out against the consolidation of power by the state broadcaster; he protested the case of María Lourdes Afiuni, a judge who spent more than a year in prison awaiting trial for releasing a government critic. “And I do a million cases like that one.”

    Still, Chomsky thinks about how hard to hit his targets. He admits as much as our soups arrive. “Suppose I criticise Iran. What impact does that have? The only impact it has is in fortifying those who want to carry out policies I don’t agree with, like bombing.” He argues that any criticisms about, say, Chávez, will invariably get into the mainstream media, whereas those he makes about the US will go unreported. This unfair treatment is the dissident’s lot, according to Chomsky. Intellectuals like to think of themselves as iconoclasts, he says. “But you take a look through history and it’s the exact opposite. The respected intellectuals are those who conform and serve power interests.”

    In 1967 the New York Review of Books published “The Responsibilities of Intellectuals”, a dazzling essay by the then 38-year-old Chomsky. In it he denounced the subservience to power of the Washington intellectual elite. Today he still concentrates his ire on the US on the grounds that it has the most power and he is an American citizen. This makes sense, I say, but doesn’t his position in another community, the anti-war left, mean he also has a duty to call out wrongdoing by its figureheads?

    “Maybe some, small percentage should be concerned with that community. But nowhere near the [percentage concerned with the] responsibility for [American] state power and mass media.”

    Chomsky has said that, if judged against the principles set out at the Nuremberg Trials, every postwar US leader would be found guilty of war crimes. I ask for his views on Barack Obama. What of the president who opposed the Iraq war? “He’s carrying out a global assassination campaign.” Here is vintage Chomsky, a provocative idea in a matter-of-fact tone, daring the interlocutor to respond. I take the bait, and ask him to explain. “Suppose that some German, Nazi official had been carrying out a global assassination campaign in the west, that would have qualified at Nuremberg.”

    . . .

    Although we are both still slurping soup, the waitress brings us our main courses. This seems like a cue to take a break from war crimes. In an effort to spur reflection I ask whether he feels he has lived up to the standards he set out in his essay in the NYRB all those years ago? “Not really,” he says. “There are a lot of things I should have done more.” He says he began resisting western involvement in Vietnam a decade too late and “that’s only one case”. He wishes he could do more: in eastern Congo, Sri Lanka and on climate change, for instance.

    Almost everything, even personal reflections, it seems, comes back to politics. Chomsky has evidently taken to heart Marx’s dictum about the role of the philosopher (“philosophers have only interpreted the world … The point, however, is to change it”). But does he wish he spent more time doing pure research? “What actually goes is not academia, it’s personal life.” He spends six or seven hours a day answering emails, which leaves little time for hobbies.

    “The one thing I’ve found all the way through is to keep time for family.” He has three children, five grandchildren, all of whom are now adults, and a great-grandson who occasionally plays with the restaurant’s toy fire engines. Carol Chomsky, his wife and a fellow linguist, died in 2008. “Since then I’ve dived into work.” I ask whether this was a deliberate, escapist decision. After a rare pause, he says: “Well, John Milton pointed out that the mind is a strange place, so who knows?”

    I take the hint and ask about the food. “It’s always good here. I’m not a great gourmet but this is the one place I ever go to.” Like MIT, it is familiar and friendly. “I even get a free drink when I come in the evening.” His tipple is a gin and tonic. Isn’t that an awfully colonial cocktail? “Well, British colonial,” he says, pointing to himself, “I’m a good American.”

    Just then, a woman who was seated at the next table comes over, says, “Thank you, so much,” and walks away. Chomsky’s reaction is calm; his bold features don’t flinch under his impressive white mop of hair. “I don’t know who she is,” he says. I tell him he is a celebrity. “It’s a small place.”

    The food here is very different from the helpings served by Chomsky’s mother, an immigrant from Belarus, to Noam and his Ukranian-born father, in their home in Philadelphia. Chomsky remembers it fondly, though “by today’s standards, everyone would say it is poison: east European greasy meat, sour cream.”

    I ask about his upbringing – did the political drive come before the academic imagination? “Yes, from childhood.” Before he was a teenager he was writing for the school newspaper about the spread of fascism in Europe. “It was pretty scary. My parents would put Hitler’s Nuremberg rally speeches on the radio. I couldn’t understand a word.”

    His story reminds me, I say, of the start of Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America, which imagines the repercussions for a Jewish family of a Charles Lindbergh victory in the presidential election of 1940. “It was pretty close to that,” Chomsky says. Which brings me to another criticism of Chomsky, voiced by those such as the late British-born journalist Christopher Hitchens – that opposing the war in Iraq, which began almost exactly 10 years ago, represented the appeasement of a modern-day fascist, Saddam Hussein. “Of course not. If you think he was in the same ballpark as Hitler then you have got to condemn Reagan and Bush number one because they pretty strongly supported him.”

    . . .

    The professor launches into the case for the prosecution. Readers of his book 9/11: Was There an Alternative? will be familiar with his style of argument: to contrast an event perpetrated by an enemy of the US, such as al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001, with an event involving the US, such as the overthrow of President Salvador Allende in Chile on September 11, 1973.

    “Just do a simple thought experiment about what we call September 11 … Imagine that the plane that was downed in Pennsylvania hit its target, which was probably the White House. And suppose it had killed the president, set off a military coup, which had been planned, which overthrew the government, murdered a couple of thousand people, tortured tens of thousands, and established an international terrorist centre that was helping install neo-Nazi governments throughout the region, carrying out assassinations … It would have been a lot worse than 9/11. Indisputable. And the fact that we can’t see it is a comment on western society and culture.”

    The field of comparative massacre makes me feel rather uneasy: the professor’s example implies there is a moral equivalence, I say, between the US and al-Qaeda, and it underplays the responsibility of General Pinochet for the years of oppression that took place after the coup.

    “When I compare the two, it isn’t in terms of responsibility, it was in terms of the nature of the atrocity,” he says. “Separate to that comes the question of responsibility. There was no American who sent the planes to kill the [Chilean] president but the US did what it could do to implement the coup.”

    We are already running over our scheduled time for lunch. Chomsky has a student waiting, so I skip a few planned questions and ask the one that has been most puzzling in my effort to understand his work. What, if any, is the connection between his academic research and his activism? There seems to be a missing link, I say.

    “It has to do with: ‘what is the fundamental core of human nature?’ ” Early Enlightenment thinkers wrote about how it is creative character that separates humans from the rest of the organic world. This character is manifested most clearly in language. Later intellectuals extended this idea to the social sphere. “So, if there is anything that restricts a person’s natural need to carry out creative work under their own direction, that is illegitimate.”

    As we get up from the table I ask whether he will always be creatively working. “While I’m upright: there’s a lot to do.”

    Does he think about death? “I used to when I was a child. I thought it was terrifying but I got over that stage.”

    I explain to Chomsky that the FT picks up the bill. “Brenda Anderson took care of your cheque,” says the waitress. The name isn’t familiar and I suggest to Chomsky that this is probably breaking some kind of rule. “It’s a wonderful place,” he says, unsurprisingly unworried about rule-breaking. He leaves the restaurant before I can find Ms Anderson, who it later turns out is the general manager. “Well, you can go back and give them a big tip. They’re nice people.”

    On the way back to the new MIT building, Chomsky points out that his office now looks out on to the Koch building, named after the billionaire brothers and Tea Party supporters. “They’re a lethal force,” he says. What about the Lockheed Martin classroom, I ask, which we pass in the foyer. “I’ve managed to avoid it so far.” He explains that when he joined MIT it was nearly 100 per cent Pentagon-funded “but our lab was also one of the main centres for the anti-war resistance movement”.

    We reach the time capsule. What do you think a future historian will write about you, I ask. “I think he’ll have more important topics to write about,” Chomsky says, before warmly greeting the student and apologising for his lateness.

    Professor Noam Chomsky will be delivering the 2013 Edward W Said London Lecture, programmed by AM Qattan Foundation/The Mosaic Rooms, on March 18 at 7pm; http://www.mosaicrooms.org

    John McDermott is the FT’s executive comment editor

    ——————————————-

    The Black Sheep

    350 Main St, Cambridge

    Clam chowder $5

    Tomato soup $5

    Kale and salmon salad $14

    Mixed salad $14

    Coffee x2 $6

    Total $0*

    *John McDermott left a $44 tip

19. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২০ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১০:৪৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    ইসলামবাদীরা ভুল মিথ্যা মিশিয়ে ইসলামের জ্ঞান-বিজ্ঞানের ইতিহাস উপস্থাপনের চেষ্টা করেন, তাই করেছিলেন মিশরের রাষ্ট্রপতি মোহাম্মদ মরসি পাকিস্তানের এক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে দেয়া তার সাম্প্রতিক বত্তৃতায়। সেই বক্তৃতার উৎকট ভুলগুলো দেখিয়ে দিলেন মিশরের প্রখ্যাত লেখক ইউসেফ জেইদান (Youssef Zeidan)।

    Egyptian writer cites ‘grave’ factual errors in Morsi’s Pakistan speech

    Prominent Egyptian writer Youssef Zeidan on Tuesday posted a letter on his Facebook page correcting a speech recently delivered by President Mohamed Morsi in Pakistan, which the writer described as having been “riddled with errors.”

    On Monday, President Morsi spoke at Pakistan’s National University of Science and Technology, which presented him with an honorary doctorate in philosophy.

    According to Zeidan, Morsi’s subsequent address – delivered before numerous Pakistani scientists – contained “grave” factual errors.

    Zeidan, an expert in Arabic heritage and medical history, criticised Morsi’s allusions to the scientific achievements of Muslim innovators during the Islamic Caliphate.

    While Morsi cited Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni (973–1048) as the discoverer of pulmonary circulation, for example, Zeidan correctly attributed the discovery to Ibn Al-Nafis, an Arab physician who lived in the 13th century.

    “Al-Biruni didn’t discover pulmonary circulation, nor had he ever heard of it,” Zeidan commented, adding that Al-Biruni had made no contribution to the field of philosophy, as Morsi had also claimed in his speech.

    Zeidan also corrected Morsi’s pronunciation of Al-Biruni’s name.

    The Egyptian president had also told his audience that Iraqi-born polymath Ibn Al-Haytham had introduced the world to, among other things, modern anatomy.

    Yet Ibn Al-Haytham did not practice the science of medicine or anatomy, asserted Zeidan, who went on to call Morsi out on another mistake: “Mr. President, Gabber Ibn Hayyan [an 8th-century scholar] did not found the science of chemistry as you maintained; chemistry was known centuries before him by the Greeks, Alexandrians and Muslim Arabs.”

    “Ibn Khaldun, Mr. President, did not ‘define sociology’ as you said in your speech… which was founded by Auguste Comte and Émile Durkheim and others,” Zeidan continued, adding that Ibn Khaldun was only regarded as having provided an early introduction to the field of sociology.

    Zeidan concluded by asserting that his only reason for pointing out Morsi’s “faults” was his keenness to preserve Egypt’s stature and reputation.

20. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২০ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৬:১৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

    ২০০৭/২০০৮এ রাজনীতিবিদদের জন্য কঠিন সময়ে এবং এসময়ের আওয়ামী লীগের বিকট অন্তর্দ্বন্দ্বের রাহুকালে সতর্কতম ও কৌশলী ব্যক্তিটি ছিলেন জিল্লুর রহমান। পরবর্তীতে হয়েছেন বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতি — তিনি আজ চলে গেলেন, তার বয়স হয়েছিল ৮৪ বছর।

    

    সিঙ্গাপুরে চিকিৎসাধীন রাষ্ট্রপতি মো. জিল্লুর রহমান আর নেই।

    বুধবার মাউন্ট এলিজাবেথ হাসপাতালে মৃত্যু হয়েছে জিল্লুর রহমানের। তার বয়স হয়েছিল ৮৪ বছর।

    রাষ্ট্রপতির মৃত্যুতে প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা গভীর শোক প্রকাশ করেছেন বলে প্রধানমন্ত্রীর প্রেসসচিব আবুল কালাম আজাদ বিকাল ৫টায় বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে জানিয়েছেন।

    রাষ্ট্রপতির কার্যালয়ের সচিব মোহাম্মদ শফিউল আলম বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে জানান, বাংলাদেশ সময় ৪টা ৪৭ মিনিটে চিকিৎসকরা রাষ্ট্রপতির মৃত্যু ঘোষণা করেন।

    দায়িত্ব নেয়ার চার বছরের মাথায় জীবনাবসান ঘটল দেশের ১৯তম রাষ্ট্রপতি জিল্লুর রহমানের।

    অসুস্থ জিল্লুর রহমানকে সিঙ্গাপুরে নেয়ার পর সংবিধান অনুযায়ী রাষ্ট্রপতির দায়িত্ব পালন করছেন স্পিকার আবদুল হামিদ।

    গত ১০ মার্চ এয়ার অ্যাম্বুলেন্সে করে সিঙ্গাপুর নেয়া হয় জিল্লুর রহমানকে। শ্বাসকষ্টের সমস্যা নিয়ে তার আগের দিনই ঢাকা সম্মিলিত সামরিক হাসপাতালে ভর্তি করা হয় তাকে।

    জিল্লুর রহমান ২০০৯ সালের ১২ ফেব্রুয়ারি রাষ্ট্রপতির দায়িত্ব নেন। দায়িত্ব পালনের মধ্যে অসুস্থতার জন্য কয়েকবার হাসপাতালে ভর্তি হন তিনি। গত ডিসেম্বর মাসেও যুক্তরাজ্যে তার স্বাস্থ্য পরীক্ষা হয়।

    জিল্লুর রহমান ১৯২৯ সালের ৯ মার্চ কিশোরগঞ্জের ভৈরবে জন্ম গ্রহণ করেন। ছাত্র জীবন থেকেই রাজনীতিতে সক্রিয় এই নেতা ‘৭১ এর মুক্তিযুদ্ধেও যোগ দেন।

    ২০০৪ সালের ২১ অগাস্ট রাজধানীর বঙ্গবন্ধু এভিনিউয়ে আওয়ামী লীগের সমাবেশে গ্রেনেড হামলায় জিল্লুর রহমান তার স্ত্রী, মহিলা আওয়ামী লীগের তৎকালীন সভানেত্রী আইভী রহমানকে হারান। তার এক ছেলে ও দুই মেয়ে রয়েছে।

    খবরের লিন্ক : রাষ্ট্রপতি আর নেই।

21. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২১ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১১:৪৩ অপরাহ্ণ)

    শ্রী লঙ্কার বিরুদ্ধে আনা জাতিসংঘের মানবাধিকার কমিশনের প্রস্তাবের পক্ষে ভোট দিল ভারত।

    India voted in favour of a US-sponsored resolution on Thursday censuring Sri Lanka on its human rights record, disregarding the risk of embittering its relations with the island nation.
    There were 25 votes in favour of the US-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), 13 against and eight abstentions, the Press Trust of India reported.

    In favour (25): Argentina, Austria, Benin, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Italy, Libya, Montenegro, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Sierra Leone, Spain, Switzerland and United States.

    Against (13): Congo, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

    Abstentions (8): Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya and Malaysia.

    Critics have accused Sri Lankan government forces of human rights violations during the three-decade-long Tamil separatist conflict that ended in May 2009 with the killing of the rebel Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran. The Tamil Tigers were fighting for a separate state for the Tamil minority carved out of the north and east of the Sinhalese-majority island nation.
    Ahead of the UNHRC vote, India expressed concern over the “inadequate progress” made by Sri Lanka in improving its human rights record and called for an “independent and credible investigation into allegations of human rights violations and loss of civilian lives,” especially in the last stages of the civil war.
    “We urge Sri Lanka to take forward measures to ensure accountability. We expect these measures to be to the satisfaction of the international community,” said Dilip Sinha, India’s ambassador to the UNHRC in Geneva.
    The vote followed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) pullout from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government on Tuesday on grounds that India wasn’t being sufficiently tough on Sri Lanka for alleged human rights abuses against the Tamil minority. The issue of Sri Lankan Tamils is an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK is the main opposition party.
    Explaining India’s position, Sinha said India encouraged Sri Lanka “to expedite the process of a broad-based, inclusive and meaningful reconciliation and political settlement that ensures that all communities live in dignity with equal rights and equal protection of the laws…
    “As a neighbour with thousands of years of relations with Sri Lanka, we cannot remain untouched by developments in that country and will continue to remain engaged in this matter.”
    India is of the view that the report presented by Sri Lanka’s own Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in December 2011 “provides a window of opportunity to forge a consensual way forward towards a lasting political settlement through genuine national reconciliation and the full enjoyment of human rights by all its citizens,” Sinha said.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : India votes in favour of UNHRC resolution censuring Sri Lanka।

    @akbarmea Hi Sir, just checking if you have something to say on the AFP report:Sri Lanka declaring partial seizure of India Oil Facility?

    — Saurabh Chaturvedi (@journosaurabh) March 21, 2013

    @sruthijith @journosaurabhAll I can say is that we have been reassured that no such decision has been taken and that story is incorrect.

    — Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbarMEA) March 21, 2013

    
    পড়তে অসুবিধা হলে, লিন্ক এখানে।

22. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২৩ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১:৪৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    তাকেও ধরে রাখা গেল না, ঝরে পড়লেন তিনিও — চিনুয়া আচেবে জন্মেছিলেন ১৯৩০ সালে নাইজেরিয়ায় আর মৃত্যুবরণ করলেন ২২ মার্চ ২০১৩তে আমেরিকার বস্টনে ৮২ বছর বয়সে।

    

    Chinua Achebe, the internationally acclaimed Nigerian writer, has died, aged 82. Best known for his first novel, Things Fall Apart, Achebe was also a poet, professor and critic.

    He died last night in Boston in the United States after a period of illness, according to friends. For the past four years, he was professor of African studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

    The Andrew Wylie Agency, his UK agent, confirmed his death to the Telegraph after rumours appeared on Twitter this morning.

    Things Fall Apart is thought to be the most widely read book in modern African literature. On its publication in 1958, it turned him into a literary celebrity abroad and an influential intellectual in Nigeria.

    খবরের লিন্ক : Chinua Achebe, acclaimed Nigerian writer, has died।

    Chimamanda Adichie pays tribute to Chinua Achebe: The man who rediscovered Africa ngrne.ws/36x3QK

    — ogunyemi omolola (@OgunyemiOmolola) March 22, 2013

    theparisreview.org/blog/2013/03/2… “We live in a society that is in transitiontwitpic.com/cdi0j1

    — masud karim (@urumurum) March 22, 2013

    “Because of writers like Chinua Achebe and Camara Laye … I realized that people like me, girls with skin the color of chocolate, whose kinky hair could not form ponytails, could also exist in literature.” (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie )

    গত বছর প্রকাশিত চিনুয়া আচেবে তার আত্মজীবনী শেষ করেছেন একটি কবিতা দিয়ে।

    After A War

    After a war life catches
    desperately at passing
    hints of normalcy
    vines entwining a hollow
    twig ; its famished roots
    close on rubble and every
    piece of broken glass.

    Irritations we used
    to curse return to joyous
    tables like prodigals home
    from the city…. The meter man
    serving my maiden bill brought
    a friendly face to my circle
    of sullen strangers and me
    smiling gratefully
    to the door.

    After a war
    we clutch at watery
    scum pulsating on listless
    eddies of our spent
    deluge….Convalescent
    dancers rising too soon
    to rejoin their circle dance
    our powerless feet intent
    as before but no longer
    adept contrive only
    half-remembered
    eccentric steps.

    After years
    of pressing death
    and dizzy last-hour reprieves
    we’re glad to dump our fears
    and our perilous gains together
    in one shallow grave and flee
    the same rueful way we came
    straight home to haunted revelry.

23. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২৪ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১১:০৭ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    সৌদিমুফতিসুধা : সৌদি আরবের প্রধান মুফতি শেখ আব্দুল-আজিজ আল-শেখ বলেছেন, টুইটার হল ‘ক্লাউনদের কাউন্সিল’, শুধু তাইই নয় তার মতে তরুণেরা টুইটারে সময় কাটিয়ে নষ্ট হয়ে যাচ্ছে।

    Twitter is for clowns: Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti
    Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti has criticized the social media website Twitter as a “council of clowns” and a place for those who “unleash unjust, incorrect and wrong tweets.”

    Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh made the statements during a speech to Saudi Arabia’s senior religious scholars on Friday, the Saudi-based al-Watan newspaper reported Saturday.

    The Grand Mufti argued that the most of young people are wasting their time on chatting and using the internet, especially Twitter.

    Saudi Arabia has three million Twitter users, more than any country in the Middle East, with a growth rate of 300 percent year-on-year, according to a report by the Social Clinic, a Jeddah-based social media consultancy.

    Between 2011 and 2012, the number of Twitter users in the kingdom grew by 3,000 percent. The kingdom accounts for an average 50 million tweets per month most of which made in the Arabic language.

    “Saudi Arabia has not been selfish either, with most of the tweets being in Arabic, Saudi Arabia accounts for 30 percent of the global tweets tweeted in Arabic, placing Arabic at the top of the pyramid of the fastest growing languages on Twitter, yes Arabic is the fastest growing language on Twitter,” according to statement published at the consultancy website http://www.thesocialclinic.com.

    The capital Riyadh ranks 10 globally among the cities with most Tweets and is the only Arab city in the top 20 cities, according to the report.

    In other social media platforms, with more than 6 million active Facebook users, Saudi Arabia has the highest Facebook user rate in the GCC, according to The Social Clinic.

24. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২৪ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৬:৫৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

    চীনে সংস্কার জরুরি, কিন্তু কী গতিতে কী ব্যাপ্তিতে সেটাই প্রশ্ন। চীনের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি বিপ্লবের ফসল — সংস্কারেও বিপ্লব চায় কেউ কেউ, কিন্তু বাস্তবতা বলে সংস্কার বিপ্লবী হতে গেলে মুহূর্তের ভুল সিদ্ধান্তে পার্টি রাষ্ট্র সব তছনছ হয়ে যেতে পারে। কমিউনিস্ট অভিজ্ঞতায় তার প্রথম উদাহরণ সোভিয়েত ইউনিয়ন, চীনের নতুন প্রেসিডেন্টের প্রথম শীর্ষবৈঠক তাই আজকের রাশিয়ায়, যে রাশিয়ায় আজ আর ক্ষমতায় নেই কমিউনিস্টরা। কী বুঝতে চান চি জিনপিং? সোভিয়েত ইউনিয়ন কোন ভুলে আজ রাশিয়া? নাকি সোভিয়েত ইউনিয়ন শেষদিকে যা যা করেছে তা আর করা যাবে না, এভাবেই চলবেন তিনি। অবশ্য সেটা দিয়েই তিনি শুরু করেছেন — একটা সংস্কার দাবি ছিল পিপলস আর্মি নিয়ে, সশস্ত্রবাহিনী পার্টির অধীনে না রেখে চীনের সরকারের অধীনে থাকুক, সেটা চি জিনপিং একবারে গোড়াতেই নাকচ করে দিয়েছেন — পার্টির সাধারণ সম্পাদক হওয়ার সাথে সাথেই সশস্ত্রবাহিনীর সব কর্তৃত্বও তিনি কব্জা করেছেন, আগে এমনটা হয়নি — আগে সশস্ত্রবাহিনী বছর দুয়েক পার্টির বিদায়ী সাধারণ সম্পাদকের হাতে থাকত। চি জিনপিং হয়তো ভয় পেয়েছিলেন, এভাবে সংস্কার হয়ে সশস্ত্রবাহিনী না সরকারের হাতে চলে যায় — যেমন গিয়েছিল সোভিয়েত ইউনিয়নে!

    The endless analysis has led to differing opinions about the causes of the Soviet collapse and the lessons that should be drawn from it.

    At Peking University, Jiang Shiqi, 23, a graduate student in the Marxism department, said the main takeaway “is that we need to keep reforming and opening up. Their downfall was having too rigid a system.”

    Wang, the professor, however, said the Soviet leaders’ biggest failure was straying too far from the purity of Marxism’s original tenets.

    It is this divergence of views that is at the heart of today’s debate within the party.

    Reformers have supported the notion that without drastic change, China, like the Soviet Union, is doomed. But hard-line conservatives resistant to change point to the reforms of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, as Exhibit A of how too much reform too fast can destroy the system.

    So far, the conservatives appear to be winning, according to the party’s professors, researchers and analysts.

    The clearest sign came from Xi himself in a private speech in December to party officials, which has not been reported by government-run news outlets but has circulated among officials and intellectuals over the past two months.

    In it, Xi blames the Soviet collapse on officials who strayed from their ideological roots. He shot down one reform suggested by critics — transferring official control of the military from the party to the Chinese government — for this reason.

    “Why must we stand firm on the party’s leadership over the military?” Xi asked. “Because that’s the lesson from the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union, where the military was depoliticized, separated from the party and nationalized, the party was disarmed.”

    As far as other reforms, he later said: “The key is what to reform and what not to reform. There are things we have not changed, things we cannot change, and things we will not change no matter how much time passes.”

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : In China, Soviet Union’s failure drives decisions on reform।

    #XiJinping met on Saturday with the Russian military leadership#Shoigu #China #military #PetertheGreat twitter.com/urumurum/statu…

    — masud karim (@urumurum) March 24, 2013

25. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২৬ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১০:৫৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

    অর্থনৈতিক শক্তির স্থান বদল হচ্ছে, ব্রিকসের ( BRICS) কাছে চলে এসেছে আন্তর্জাতিক মুদ্রার বিশাল রিজার্ভ — ব্রাজিল, রাশিয়া, ভারত, চীন, দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকায় বসবাস করে পৃথিবীর জনসংথ্যর এক বড় ভাগ — এদের এবং এদের প্রতিবেশী উদীয়মান অর্থনীতির আছে বিরাট উন্নয়ন ক্ষুধা — সব মিলে ব্রিকসের অর্থমন্ত্রীরা একমত হয়েছেন একটা নতুন উন্নয়ন ব্যাংক তারা শুরু করতে পারবেন।

    The biggest emerging markets are uniting to tackle under-development and currency volatility with plans to set up institutions that encroach on the roles of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

    The leaders of the so-called BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — are set to approve the establishment of a new development bank during an annual summit that began today in the eastern South African city of Durban, officials from all five nations say. They will also discuss pooling foreign-currency reserves to ward off balance of payments or currency crises.

    “The deepest rationale for the BRICS is almost certainly the creation of new Bretton Woods-type institutions that are inclined toward the developing world,” Martyn Davies, chief executive officer of Johannesburg-based Frontier Advisory, which provides research on emerging markets, said in a phone interview. “There’s a shift in power from the traditional to the emerging world. There is a lot of geo-political concern about this shift in the western world.”

    The BRICS nations, which have combined foreign-currency reserves of $4.4 trillion and account for 43 percent of the world’s population, are seeking greater sway in global finance to match their rising economic power. They have called for an overhaul of management of the World Bank and IMF, which were created in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944, and oppose the practice of their respective presidents being drawn from the U.S. and Europe.

    …

    Goldman Sachs Asset Management Chairman Jim O’Neill coined the BRIC term in 2001 to describe the four emerging powers he estimated would equal the U.S. in joint economic output by 2020. Brazil, Russia, India and China held their first summit four years ago and invited South Africa to join their ranks in December 2010.

    Trade within the group surged to $282 billion last year from $27 billion in 2002 and may reach $500 billion by 2015, according to data from Brazil’s government. Foreign direct invesment into BRICS nations reached $263 billion last year, accounting for 20 percent of global FDI flows, up from 6 percent in 2000, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said on its website yesterday.

    “If they announce a BRICS bank it will be quite something,” O’Neill said in an e-mailed reply to questions on March 15. “At a minimum it symbolizes they can achieve something as political group and means lots of other things could follow in the future. It also means that they will have their own kind of special World Bank, which may aid infrastructure and trade projects.”

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : BRICS Nations Plan New Bank to Bypass World Bank, IMF।

    Declaration and Action Plan of 5th #BRICS Summit – pmindia.gov.in/press-details.…

    — Dr Manmohan Singh (@PMOIndia) March 28, 2013

    11. We are grateful to our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors for the work undertaken on the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement and direct them to negotiate and conclude the agreements which will establish them. We will review progress made in these two initiatives at our next meeting in September 2013.

26. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২৮ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১:০১ অপরাহ্ণ)

    তেল আবিবে ৯০ বছর আগের একটা বাড়িতে নতুন করে কাজ করাতে গেয়ে খুঁজে পাওয়া গেল বেশকিছু দেয়ালচিত্র যাতে ইউরোপীয় মধ্যপ্রাচ্যের বিভিন্ন মোটিফের মেলবন্ধন হয়েছে। বাড়ির মালিককে রাজি করানোর চেষ্টা চলছে তিনি যেন এই শিল্পকর্মগুলো সংরক্ষণ করে বাড়ির কাজ করান।

    

    Israeli workers discover 90-year-old murals mixing European and Mideast motifs

    The 90-year-old paintings under layers of plaster and paint on the walls of a Tel Aviv building have amazed conservationists. But they are concerned about the murals’ future: the building’s owners are only required to preserve the paintings on the stairwell.

    “We were very happy with the richness of the find, but we regret what we lost due to the owners’ lack of awareness and interest,” says Tamar Tochler of the Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites.

    The murals, discovered during renovations of a 1921 building on 5 Nahalat Binyamin St., include landscapes and depictions of plants, flowers, fruits and trees.

    “This is the first time wall paintings have been found in Tel Aviv that include landscapes,” says Shai Farkash, the owner of a studio that conserves such works.

    Last week Farkash’s team was working overtime to uncover the murals, assisted by foreign students from the International Conservation Center in Old Acre. A conservation artist, Ben Buchenbacher, whom the building’s owners have commissioned to work on the paintings, calls it “a rescue mission.”

    According to Noga Di Segni of the preservation society, landscape paintings have been found in other Israeli cities. “There probably were others like it elsewhere in the city that didn’t survive,” she says.

    It started with the Third Aliyah

    The building, designed by the architect Yehoshua Zvi Tabachnik (Tavori), is known for the Balcony Pub that has occupied the second floor for years. “When we were having a good time at Balcony, we never imagined what was hiding behind these walls,” one conservation worker says.

    Tabachnik came to Palestine from Odessa in 1919 with the wave of immigration known as the Third Aliyah. He arrived on the SS Ruslan, the ship that brought the poetess Rachel and the journalist Moshe Glickson, who became Haaretz’s editor. Tabachnik left the country six years later and continued his architectural career in Brooklyn.

    Tabachnik also planned the building across the street, known as the Palm House because of the magnificent palm tree covering the windows of two stories. His buildings were part of an original Land of Israel style that mixed Eastern and Western motifs.

    Other buildings in this style, which can be seen on Nahalat Binyamin and nearby Allenby Street, feature seven-branched candelabra, Stars of David, palm-tree glass windows and wrought-iron railings depicting the raised corners of the biblical altar.

    According to Shula Vidrich, a historian of Tel Aviv, the house was built for one Yehuda Skopasky, and five years later it was sold to an eye doctor. It changed hands in 1933 when brothers Chaim and Israel Brecht bought it, using the first floor for their velvet import business.

    “We have to remember that there were wealthy bourgeois people who built fine houses with a great deal of charm,” Tochler says, referring to the pioneers here.

    According to conservation artist Buchenbacher, “There’s something very satisfying about being able to reveal these paintings, which belong to a mood we can’t really understand: a combination of European tradition with living in the Middle East.”

    Now the new owners are renovating the building. To do so, conservation architect Nitza Metzger-Szmuk uses original sketches of the house, which are preserved in the municipal archives.

    “We wouldn’t know what the original facade looked like without them,” she says. “The descendants of the building’s previous owners also have photographs.”

    Metzger-Szmuk has run into a familiar problem – her desire to preserve all the spectacular murals and the new owners’ needs and demands. According to the conservation plan, she can’t force the owners to preserve the paintings, only those in the stairwell — a public space.

    Metzger-Szmuk is trying to get the city to offer incentives to the new owners so they preserve all the murals. “We need cultural persuasion here,” she says.

27. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২৮ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৪:০৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

    রাশিয়ান মুফতি ভাবনা : তাতারাস্তানের সহকারী মুফতি ইলদার বায়াজিতভের এই ভাবনাটি প্রশংসার দাবি রাখে, এবং সত্যিই যদি সম্ভব হয় তাহলে বেশ ভাল হয়, জঙ্গিবাদ ঠেকাতে তিনি পরিকল্পনা করছেন মাদ্রাসার তরুণদের যদি সামাজিক ক্ষেত্রে দাতব্য কাজে নিয়োজিত করা যায় — বিশেষ গুরুত্ব পাওয়া দাতব্য ক্ষেত্র হবে মাদকাসক্তি পুনর্বাসন, বিকল্পসক্ষম মানুষদের সহায়তা, বৃদ্ধাশ্রম এতিমখানা ও জেলখানায় নানাধরনের সহায়তা।

    Muslim Leader Touts Charity as Antidote to Islamic Extremism

    Russia’s Islamic organizations should get young Muslims involved in socially-oriented and charitable activities to shield them from radicalization and extremism, a Muslim leader said on Wednesday.

    Ildar Bayazitov, deputy mufti of Russia’s predominantly Islamic republic of Tatarstan, said “socially useful” activity could also help alleviate social tension.

    Priority should be given to helping drug addicts, prison inmates, disabled persons, large or incomplete families, elderly people and orphans, he said.

    “The focus in official Muslim rhetoric in our country should be not on political issues related to Islam, but on its socially useful potential,” he said, adding that radical protest moods among religious youth often stem from unresolved social problems and a perceived lack of social justice.

    The National Antiterrorism Committee said last October there has been an increase in the number of extremism-related crimes in Russia’s Volga Federal District, of which Tatarstan is part, as well as a rise in the level of latent interethnic and interreligious tension.

    “There is a trend toward the expansion of radical Islam in Muslim-concentrated settlements in the Volga Region,” committee representative Dmitry Muryshov said.

    Tatarstan has been viewed as a model of interethnic and inter-faith harmony in ethnically diverse Russia. However, attacks on moderate Muslim leaders last July, which left Tatarstan’s mufti Ildus Faizov severely injured and his former deputy Valiulla Yakupov dead, were a further troubling indication that radical Islam is spreading beyond what had been seen as its “traditional” borders.